The Greatest Act
by Slytherin.Fixation
Summary: Harriet Potter never really did exist, she was simply a girl with the unwanted power to destroy her father. GirlHarry; DarkHarry; Eventual SlytherinHarry; UnspeakableHarry; Gryffindor bashing; NON-SLASH HP/DM; TMR/LE; I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER;
1. PROLOGUE

**Story Title: The Greatest Act**

**Author: Slytherin Fixation**

**Chapter Title: Prologue**

**Posted: 7th September 2010**

**Reposted: 13****th**** August 2011**

**Words: 930**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything other then the plot. All of the characters and such belong to J. K. Rowling and other respective copyright owners.**

**Summary: **_**Harriet Potter never really did exist; she was simply a girl with the unwanted power to destroy her father. DarkHarry; GirlHarry; UnspeakableHarry; SlytherinHarry (eventually); Weasley, Dumbledore and Gryffindor bashing; HP/DM (NON-SLASH); TMR/LE**_

* * *

**Legend:**

"English,"

"**Parselmouth,**"

"_**Italian**_,"

_"Spells,"/Letters/Writing/Dates_

* * *

Prologue

"When I was born in late July of 1980, my home country of England was at war within itself, or, at least, the magical part of it was. I wouldn't have been all that surprised if the Muggles hadn't even noticed that anything out of the ordinary was going on. The war was between what the wizards and witches of England called the Light and Dark factions.

My father, a cunning and ambitious man with the extreme power known to our family, was the feared leader of the Dark faction at the time. Many people said he was cruel, evil and heartless but, to me, he has always and will always be the loving father I grew up with. Sure, maybe he could have gone about his plans in a more diplomatic way but the Dark faction had known for centuries that if we wanted things done our way, politics wouldn't work.

My mother, a pure blood witch born to a Light father and Dark mother, grew up with her father's squib sister in the Muggle world. It wasn't until my mother's fifth birthday that her aunt told her why odd things always happened when she was angry or sad.

My mother was eight years old when she finally got in contact with her mother's younger brother, Orion Black, his wife, Walburga and their two sons. The oldest of the sons, Sirius, was the same age as my mother and started Hogwarts the same year as her, while the youngest of the sons, Regulus, was two years behind them. Both men, however, became more like brothers to my mother then cousins before and during her time at Hogwarts.

Of course, due to the Black family being such strong Dark supporters, my mother ended up following in the rest of her family's footsteps. Being the Dark Lord of the time, it was really no wonder that my father heard about my mother joining the Dark faction. Therefore, when both my now godfather, Sirius, and my mother were about to start at Hogwarts it came as no surprise that my father gave them both a task as he had done to the children of the other prominent Dark families. They were given the task of infiltrating Gryffindor House and, later, the Light side of the war as spies for the Dark. Sirius was to pretend to hate his family enough to betray them while my mother was to return to her Squib aunt before she left for Hogwarts and enter as Muggleborn Lily Evans.

For seven years my mother and godfather worked themselves into the Light side, secretly becoming friends with Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy, Rodolphus Lestrange and, of course, Regulus Black. It was in the Christmas Holidays of 1977 that my parents first met each other. For my mother, it was love at first sight. For my father, on the other hand, it was an eighteen-month path of learning how to love. At the end of the eighteen-month path, though, my parents were happily married in July of 1979, around the same time as Lily Evans married James Potter to keep her cover, despite my father's protests.

It was in early January of the next year that my mother discovered that she was pregnant with me. Again, my father wanted my mother to leave her spying duties, but she refused and easily convinced James Potter that I was his child. I was not, as many people once believed, conceived under mysterious circumstances nor did I not know who my father was. I always knew, we simply kept it a secret for my protection.

It was in April of that year that the prophecy was made and over heard by my mother's best friend, Severus Snape, as it was being told to Dumbledore. It had taken quite a few weeks to calm my father down and stop him from thinking that his own child was going to destroy him. Once they had though, they'd been able to discover what had been meant relatively quickly. Lucius Malfoy and Rodolphus Lestrange had spent a few days working on it before they discovered that the 'Other' had been a completely different person and not my father.

I was born on the last day of July in 1980, the daughter of the Dark Lord and Lady with the emerald green eyes of my father's side of the family and my mother's light brown hair. To the Dark inner circle, I was born Rosemarie Lillian Gaunt. To the rest of the world, I was born Harriet Jamie Potter.

I don't really remember much about the first fifteen months of my life but my mother had always been happy to tell me the stories, and Sirius always agreed to show me his memories. I do know that from the day I was born, I loved my mother and hated Potter as if I subconsciously knew he wasn't my real father. I also know that when I was barely a year old, my parents formed a plan to pull my mother and me away from the Light side of the war after the death of my mother's cousin, Regulus, and the imprisonment of Rodolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange.

I know that when that plan was carried out, it left me with a lightening bolt-shaped scar on my forehead that connected me to my father. I know that the plan made my alias famous; it made my alias the Girl Who Lived.

It was that plan that put the following events of my life into action."

_Excerpt from _An Autobiography_ by Princess Rose Gaunt._


	2. The Beginning Part 1

**Story Title: The Greatest Act**

**Author: Slytherin Fixation**

**Chapter Title: The Beginning Part 1**

**Posted: 7th September 2010**

**Reposted: 13th August 2011**

**Words: 5'626**

**Summary:**_** Harriet Potter never really did exist, she was simply a girl with the unwanted power to destroy her father. DarkHarry; GirlHarry; UnspeakableHarry; SlytherinHarry (eventually); Weasley, Dumbledore and Gryffindor bashing; HP/DM (NON-SLASH); TMR/LE**_

**Author's Note: Here's the first chapter! I know it was the old prologue and I have done that on purpose that it is better off this way rather then as a prologue.**

* * *

**Legend:**

"English,"

"**Parselmouth,**"

"_**Italian**_,"

_"Spells,"/Letters/Writing/Dates_

* * *

The Beginning - Part 1

_Saturday October 31__st__ 1981_

A single figure stood at the edge of the footpath. The figure was tall and imposing, dressed in a long black cloak with the hood pulled up to hide the wearer's face. All that was visible beneath it was a pair of startling blood-red eyes. Those eyes were fixed solely on the empty block of land at the end of the street, unblinking and emotionless.

After having stood motionless for several long moments, the figure reached a hand with long, thin fingers into an inside pocket. A small slip of old and yellowed looking paper was withdrawn and the frightening red eyes settled on the familiar, scrawl like writing. '_48 Light Road. Godric's Hollow'_ was all that was written on the parchment but it seemed to be just what the figure wanted.

Glancing up, the figure's eyes landed once again on the block of land to find it was no longer empty. A cottage stood there with a large, well kept hedge and a white picket fence. It was two stories high but modest in its design.

The figure instantly knew; the Fidelius Charm had been breached.

Underneath the hood, a small, brief smile was allowed to flitter across the hidden face but, as soon as it was there, it was gone. Stepping forward, the figure pushed open the small gate and walked towards the front door.

"_Alohomora_," the figure spoke softly but strongly, a thirteen-inch wooden stick pointed directly at the handle. The lock clicked and the door creaked open.

"Lily, take Harriet and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!" a distinctly male voice echoed throughout the house followed by the sound of feet running up stairs.

The still disguised figure walked calmly towards the sound of the voice only to meet its source half way there. He was tall, thin and had very untidy black hair. He wore a pair of round, black-rimmed glasses sitting high on the bridge of his nose.

The black haired man spat the word "Voldemort," in disgust, his own wand pointed determinedly at the figure that'd walked uninvited into his home.

The figure that had been called 'Voldemort' merely smirked in reply, "We meet again, Potter."

James Potter glared fiercely at the man he considered a monster and opened his mouth to cast a spell. Voldemort, however, was faster and easily spoke the words that ended the other man's life, "_Avada Kedavra._"

A flash of bright green light appeared before Potter's body hit the hallway floor with a loud thump. After it did, the house became completely silent. Turning on his heel, the cloaked figure headed up the stairs and towards the room he knew to be the nursery. He easily opened the unlocked door and stepped inside.

A woman with long red hair and bright, emerald green eyes – the disguise she'd worn almost constantly since she was eleven – turned from the crib she was standing over to face him, "Is Potter dead?"

The cloaked figure reached up with both hands to pull back his hood and reveal his face. It looked oddly out of place next to the horrifying red eyes with its handsome and young appearance. The man looked to be in his early-twenties, the same age as the woman, even if he truly was much older. Upon his head a mope of thick, black hair sat in soft curls.

"Yes," was the reply the man gave and the woman nodded, obviously unbothered by this revelation. She turned back to the baby's crib behind her and the now undisguised man stepped up next to her to glance down at the beautiful fifteen-month-old baby girl that lay inside, sleeping soundly.

"Hopefully," the women spoke softly as she ran her hand through the baby's glamour coloured black locks that, at this moment, were identical to Potter's. "When this is all over, you'll be able to live normally and peacefully, with a family that loves you."

"Lily," the man beside her sighed softly, wrapping his arms around said woman's waist. "No one will come looking for her if they don't even know I had a daughter. We took precautions to make sure no one ever did."

"I know," Lillian Gaunt spoke, her eyes never leaving the sleeping baby. "I'm just worried about what Dumbledore will do with her. We both know what he's like."

"He'll still think of her as a Potter and will treat her as if she was one," the man reassured. "He'd never let any harm come to such a _light_ family's last remaining heir. You know that."

Lily's lips pursed slightly but she eventually nodded, "Alright. I'll trust you on this one, Tom."

Tom Marvolo Gaunt smiled adoringly at the only woman he ever had and ever would love, "Excellent. In that case, we better get on with the plan. Sirius will be here soon."

Lily finally looked away from her only daughter and turned to face her _true_ husband, "Okay, I'll head to the Manor then."

Tom gave her another smile, one that only she and a select few others had ever seen upon his face, as she placed a kiss on the baby girl's forehead. Then, she turned around and placed a soft kiss on Tom's lips before disappearing with a small 'pop'.

Tom reached into his pocket and pulled out a small cage. Inside sat an extremely small, sleeping person who was lucky to reach four inches in height. The man had cropped red hair and pale, freckled skin. It had taken five Death Eaters to fake his and his brother's deaths to stop the Order from searching for them. That, however, had been nearly two years ago and the small man had rarely had a coherent thought since.

Tom opened the cage and grabbed a hold of the small man, pulling him out of the small prison. Pointing his wand at him, Tom watched as the other man begun to rapidly grow until he was the size of a normal human being. The sudden change in size seemed to have woken him but, even then, he did not react. Gideon Prewett had long since lost his mind under the torture of the Dark Lord Voldemort's followers.

Again, Tom pointed his wand at Prewett, using a spell he had personally created to place a permanent glamour that could only ever be removed by the original caster. The man's appearance changed until he was an exact replica of Lily's disguise. Not even Mad-eye Moody could have seen through it.

With a satisfied smirk, Tom pointed his wand at the Lily look-a-like and faked his own wife's death, "_Avada Kedavra_."

Then, to make sure that there was no question about the body's identity Tom removed a vial of red liquid from his robe pocket. Uncapping the vial, Tom opened the mouth of the Lily look a like and poured the red liquid down the dead man's throat. Waving his wand one more time, Tom knew that the blood would spread and would be the blood extracted if a test were taken.

Tom quickly made sure that the body, cloak and fake wand, provided by the ever-Dark Ollivander, was in the position that would make the situation the most believable. Then, he turned back to the crib where the baby girl slept on, completely oblivious to the events unfolding around her. Hoping that the plan worked out the way Lily had predicted, Tom pointed his wand at one of the few people he would die for.

"_Avada Kedavra_," the spell that would have killed any other living being was spoken softly but confidently. Only staying long enough to see the spell leave his wand, Tom Apparated to Surrey where he awaited the arrival of a hopefully alive and healthy baby girl.

* * *

_Sunday 1__st__ November 1981_

All of the next day, Tom sat at the park across the street of number four Privet Drive under an invisibility cloak stolen from the Potter household. He noticed throughout the day that thousands of owls were flying overhead and that shooting stars shot across the daytime sky. It was obvious to Tom that word of his 'defeat' had travelled quickly and he was amused that his reign of terror, as many people called it, had caused such an impact.

Tom also noticed the Tabby cat that sat upon the wall of number four almost as long as he sat on the bench. He watched as it read a map and then a street sign as though checking it was in the correct spot.

It was midnight, however, before there was any obvious sign that anything was out of the ordinary. A man appeared at the end of the street. He was tall, thin and very old judging by the silver of his hair and beard. He wore long robes, a purple cloak and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes seemed to twinkle in the streetlight and Tom couldn't help himself from glaring at the man he hated more than anyone else, Albus Dumbledore.

Dumbledore began searching in his many pockets for something before his eyes suddenly snapped up to look at the Tabby cat that still sat perched upon the wall of number four. The old man chuckled to himself and muttered, "I should have known."

Eventually, he found what he was looking for, a small silver device that looked oddly like a Muggle cigarette lighter. Dumbledore flicked it open and clicked it once. The nearest street lamp's light flew from the bulb and into the small device. He clicked it eleven more times until all the street lamps had gone out.

Tom watched on silently as Dumbledore walked down the street to sit on the wall next to the Tabby cat, "Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."

Upon the spoken words, a rather severe looking woman appeared beside Dumbledore wearing similar robes but in a jade green. She wore glasses matching the markings that had surrounded the cat's eyes and her hair was fixed into a tight bun.

"How did you know it was me?" McGonagall asked.

"My dear Professor," Dumbledore said, amused. "I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."

"You'd be stiff too if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said McGonagall.

"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed at least a dozen feasts on my way here."

Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.

"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently while Tom smirked to himself slightly. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no – even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at number four's dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls…shooting stars…well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent – I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."

"You can't blame them," Dumbledore told her, his voice gentle. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."

"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being down right careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumours."

She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on.

"A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"

"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore and Tom frowned as he realised that the older man didn't seem to believe he was dead. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a sherbet lemon?"

"A_ what_?"

"A sherbet lemon. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."

Tom stared at the man incredulously.

"No thank you," McGonagall said coldly, as though she, too, didn't think this was the moment for sherbet lemons. "As I was saying, even if You-Know-Who has gone -"

"My dear professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense – for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort."

McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unwrapping two sherbet lemons, seemed not to notice. Tom, on the other hand, smirked at the fear his mere name held.

"It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who'," Dumbledore continued. "I never have seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."

"I know you haven't," McGonagall said, sounding half-exasperated half-admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know – oh, alright, Voldemort – was frightened of."

Tom held back a snort of disgust. He'd never found out where that rumour had started – though, he had inkling that Dumbledore had something to do with it – but it wasn't at all true. The only reason he'd never attacked Hogwarts was because he didn't want to destroy or fight in the only building he'd ever really called home. That was, of course, before he'd come of age and inherited Slytherin Manor.

"You flatter me," Dumbledore said calmly. "Voldemort has powers I never will."

Tom smirked. At least the old man could admit to that much.

"Only because you're too – well – noble to use them."

Tom snorted quietly.

"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed this much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my earmuffs."

McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing to the rumours that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"

It seemed that McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she'd been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was obvious that whatever 'everyone' was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another sherbet lemon and did not answer.

"What they're saying," she pressed on. "Is that last night, Voldemort turned up at Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumour is that Lily and James Potter are – are – that they're – dead."

Dumbledore bowed his head and McGonagall gasped.

"Lily and James…I can't believe it…I didn't want to believe it…oh, Albus…"

Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder, "I know…I know…"

McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on, "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's daughter, Harriet. But – he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little girl. No one knows why or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harriet Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke – and that's why he's gone."

Dumbledore nodded glumly and Tom couldn't help but smirk, everything was going perfectly to plan.

"It's – It's true?" McGonagall faltered. "After all he's done…all the people he's killed… he couldn't kill a little girl? It's just astounding… of all the things to stop him… but how in the name of heaven did Harriet survive?"

"We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."

McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took out a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket.

"Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here?" Dumbledore spoke at last.

"Yes," said McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"

"I've come to bring Harriet to her aunt and uncle. They're the only family she has left now."

"You don't mean – you can't mean the people who live here?" cried McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore – you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son – I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harriet Potter come and live here!"

"It's the best place for her," said Dumbledore firmly. "Her aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to her when she's older. I've written them a letter."

"A letter?" McGonagall repeated faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand her! She'll be famous – a legend – I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harriet Potter day in the future – there will be books written about Harriet – every child in our world will know her name!"

"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking seriously over the top of his half-moon spectacles. "It would be enough to turn any child's head. Famous before she can walk and talk! Famous for something she won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off she'll be, growing up away from all that until she's ready to take it?"

Tom almost laughed at the obvious way, to anyone who knew what to look for, in which Dumbledore covered up his true motives. He wanted to use her as a weapon and that wasn't going to happen if she was cocky and confident.

McGonagall, who failed to notice what Tom had, opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed and then said, "Yes – yes, you're right, of course. But how is the girl getting here, Dumbledore?"

She eyed his cloak suddenly, as though she thought he might be hiding Harriet underneath it.

"Hagrid is bringing her."

Tom glared harder at Dumbledore, how dare he leave such a precious baby girl with that giant oaf of a man!

"You think it – wise – to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"

"I would trust Hagrid with my life," Dumbledore said simply.

"I'm not saying his heart's not in the right place," said McGonagall grudgingly. "But you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to – what was that?"

A low rumbling sound had broken the silence of the deserted street. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight. Tom, meanwhile, smirked as he recognised the sound and looked up at the night sky as the sound swelled to a roar. A huge motorbike fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of the two Professors.

If the motorbike was huge, it was nothing compared to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and wild-long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of dustbins and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a small bundle of blankets.

"Hagrid," Dumbledore greeted, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorbike?"

"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," the oaf answered, climbing carefully off the motorbike as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got her, sir."

Tom smiled. He'd made a good decision when he chose Sirius to be godfather. He always made sure Harriet was safe and it wasn't hard for Lily to convince Potter to make him godfather as well. He was Potter's supposed best friend, after all.

"No problems, were there?" Dumbledore asked.

"No, sir – house was almost destroyed but I got her out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. She fell asleep as we were flying over Bristol."

Dumbledore and McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby girl, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over her forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightening.

"It that where-?" whispered McGonagall.

"Yes," nodded Dumbledore. "She'll have that scar forever."

Tom, who couldn't see the bundle from where he was, sucked in a sharp breath of air. Was that what had been meant by '_And the Dark Lord will mark her as his equal_'?

"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"

"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in useful. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well – give her here, Hagrid – we'd better get this over with."

Dumbledore took Harriet in his arms – Tom silently seethed at the fact that he was touching her – and turned towards the Dursley's house.

"Could I – could I say goodbye to her, sir?" asked Hagrid.

Tom rolled his eyes at the half-giant he'd made sure was expelled from Hogwarts.

Hagrid bent his great, shaggy head over Harriet and gave her what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.

"Shhh!" hissed McGonagall. "You'll wake the Muggles!"

"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large spotted handkerchief and bearing his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it – Lily an' James dead – an' poor little Harriet off to live with Muggles -"

"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," McGonagall whispered, petting him gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid the small girl gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside her blankets and returned to the other two.

For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle. Hagrid's shoulders shook, McGonagall blinked furiously and the annoying twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.

"Well," said Dumbledore when Tom was beginning to get impatient. "That's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."

"Yeah," said Hagrid in a muffled voice. "I'd best get this bike away. G'night Professor McGonagall – Professor Dumbledore, sir."

Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself on to the motorbike and kicked the engine into life. With a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.

"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. McGonagall blew her nose in reply.

Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-outer. He clicked it once and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive suddenly glowed orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.

"Good luck, Harriet Potter," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak he was gone.

Tom stood from his position on the park bench and pulled off the stolen invisibility cloak. He moved swiftly forward towards the doorstep and the sleeping bundle of blankets. Slowly, the baby girl began to open her eyes as she was picked up. Tom smiled down at the little girl with eyes identical to that of Lily's disguise.

Waving his wand at the small girl, Tom removed the glamour, "_Finite Incantatem_."

The tufts of thick black hair upon the baby's head lightened and turned a light brown, identical to her mother's true hair. Her eyes slowly turned the same shade of green as the Avada Kedavra curse with a rim of red identical to that of the eyes her father possessed. Her facial features also changed, her nose became slightly more pointed and her cheekbones became sharper and more prominent, giving her the aristocratic features of a true pure-blood witch. Unfortunately, even with the changes that took place, the lightening bolt scar remained stubbornly in place on the small girl's forehead. Tom knew that she would indeed have the scar for the rest of her life and swore to teach her how to cover it up as soon as she was old enough.

Her appearance wasn't the only thing that changed either. The golden, lion shaped necklace that had hung around the small girls neck since the day she was born began to shift and change. As the baby's appearance changed, the necklace slowly melted from gold to silver before the small gold lion shifted into a round shape. Moments later, a green snake began to shine on the necklace.

Glancing back down at the red and green eyes of the baby in his arms, Tom smiled at her and spoke in the language that he hoped she had inherited, "**Finally, you can return home and live the life you were meant to have as heir to the throne of Darkness**_._"

There was a small 'pop' that echoed throughout the street before all was quiet and the street was deserted.

The next morning, the Dursley family went about their lives as normal. Mrs Dursley was unaware of how close she'd come to looking after her adopted sister's only daughter, unaware that all over the country people meeting in secret were lifting up their glasses and saying in hushed voices, "To Harriet Potter – The-Girl-Who-Lived."

It would be thirteen years before anyone even began to suspect that Harriet Potter hadn't grown up with her relatives and it would be even longer before anyone from the 'Light' side knew what really happened that night.

* * *

Less then two hours later, Tom Riddle sat at the head of a long meeting table that had been magically shrunk to accommodate perfectly for this small meeting of close friends. Less than three months ago, there had been six members of this small gathering; today there was only four. To Tom's right sat a man with black hair and fathomless grey eyes named Sirius Black. Despite the cause of this meeting, his eyes were alight with the mischievous glint so often found there as he laughed with the similarly dark haired man beside him.

It was Sirius who first brought up the true reason for this meeting, "How is Lily fairing, my lord?"

Tom glanced at his right hand man with amusement, "How many times do I need to tell you not to call me that? As for your question, she is perfectly fine. She's putting Rose to sleep."

The dark haired man who sat opposite Tom leaned forward slightly, "Everything went to plan then?"

"Nearly everything."

There was silence for a moment amongst the group of friends.

"What went wrong?" it was the final member of this small gathering, the fair-haired Lucius Malfoy, who voiced the question.

Tom turned slightly to raise an eyebrow at Sirius, "Yes. What did go wrong, Sirius?"

Sirius rubbed the back of his neck, looking slightly embarrassed, "I was the first to arrive at the house, as you know. The half-giant, Hagrid, arrived not moments later and demanded to take her, saying it was on Dumbledore's orders. I let him take her, giving him my bike to insure they got there safely. I left the house shortly after and ran into Pettigrew on my way here. He realised what I'd done and accused me of betraying Lily and James. I had to blow up half the street to get away."

Tom sighed, "And now the entire Wizarding World is on a man hunt?"

"Uh…"

"We can't afford for you to land yourself in Azkaban as well," Severus pointed out. "We've already lost Bellatrix and Rodolphus."

Lucius glanced at Tom, "Cissy has been asking…"

Tom shook his head, "We can't risk it."

Lucius nodded his agreement but didn't look any less upset then the others.

"Have you spoken to the goblins?" Tom asked Lucius after a moment silence.

The other man nodded, "They are aware that you are still alive and do not plan to close your vaults. They are slightly unhappy about the halt in your plans but understand that the way we were going, we were going to loose."

Tom nodded slowly, his mind working quickly.

"Severus, what can you tell me about the Order of the Phoenix's plans?"

"Dumbledore completely believes in your down fall but seems to know that the war isn't over for good," Severus reported. "He believes that Lily is truly dead and that 'Harriet' is still at the Dursley's. He has disbanded the Order and swore to testify if I'm arrested."

"And the potions job?"

"Dumbledore believes I am the best man for the job."

Tom nodded, "And the ministry?"

It was Lucius who answered, "They're celebrating. There's a ball being planned for next month in honour of Harriet Potter already."

Sirius snorted while both Severus and Tom simply rolled their eyes.

"And how is young Regulus?" Tom asked Lucius curiously.

He frowned slightly in response, "He's alright I suppose. He's happy and well taken care of. And he absolutely loves playing with Draco."

"But…" Sirius encouraged.

Lucius sighed, "He called Narcissa 'Mum' the other day. I've never seen her look so horrified."

Tom grimaced. He hated the fact that he had taken the four-year-old boy's parents away from him – he never wanted anyone to grow up like he had. But, Tom reasoned, at least he still had his loving Aunt and Uncle.

Opposite him, Sirius seemed to understand, "Cygnus' first word may have been 'Mumma' but his second was definitely 'Dadda'. Callidora looked ready to cry."

Tom's grimace returned. Regulus Black, one of the missing members of their small group, had died three months ago. He'd been killed by an Order of the Phoenix member during an attack on his family. He'd left behind a wife – Callidora – and a nearly two-year-old son – Cygnus. Sirius was doing everything he could to help his brother's family and taking up the position of father that Cygnus so desperately needed. However, that didn't mean the event hadn't affected the entire family – Lily and he included.

"At least there won't be any more sudden losses any time soon," Severus murmured lowly. "As far as everyone else is concerned, the war is over. We'll give the children time to grow up happy before they have to live in a world of war."

Tom seemed to suddenly have remembered something, "Speaking of growing up, Lily had a vision three days ago."

"Is she alright?" Severus instantly asked. He and Lily had been best friends since they'd met back before Hogwarts and, no matter what act they put on, it had always been that way. It was part of the reason why Lily had chosen him as Rose's other godfather.

"Lily's fine," Tom reassured him.

"What was the vision of?" Sirius asked curiously.

Tom smirked, "Rose's wedding."

Their eyes widened.

"It's already _that_ set in stone?" Severus questioned.

Tom shrugged, "Apparently there is no way she'll be marrying anyone else."

"Who?" Sirius suddenly asked, grinned widely. "Who is he?"

Tom shot him a look, knowing already that he was going to try to make the poor boy's life as miserable as possible, "Draco Malfoy."

Lucius would have fallen off his chair if he weren't so well controlled. As it was, he didn't manage to stop himself from asking, "_What_?"

"Rose and Draco?" Severus asked, leaning back in his chair and looking thoughtful. The others silently wondered what he was planning.

"It would appear so," Tom smirked, loving the shocked expression on Lucius' face.

"Draco will be her consort?" Lucius appeared to need conformation.

"Yes," Tom shrugged. "I'm sure he'll know what that entitles when he needs to."

Lucius nodded and it was only then that Sirius spoke.

"I'm afraid I may turn out to be Draco's most hated Uncle," he said absently. Lucius shot him an annoyed look while Severus merely smirked.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Tom pointed out in amusement. "Rose might not like her godfather picking on her boyfriend."

As soon as he said it, Tom grimaced, "Actually, lets not think about it. She's not even two."

The other men laughed quietly at the horrified look on Tom's face at the prospect of his only daughter having a boyfriend.

Tom waved a dismissive hand at their laughter, "I think it's about time you all went home and bothered someone else. I have a daughter to say good night to."

"Of course," Lucius spoke, standing as he did so. "I should check on Regulus and Draco as it is."

Sirius and Severus stood as well, saying goodbye to their leader before all three men left the manor. Shortly after, Tom stood and left the room, climbing the stairs to his only daughter's bedroom and walking inside. He smiled at the sight before him. A young woman with long brown hair and blue eyes sat singing his only daughter to sleep from a rocking chair in the corner of the room.

After a few moments the lullaby ended and, with her disguise completely gone, his wife stood and placed Rose in the expensive looking crib before walking over to Tom where he lent against the doorframe.

"Everything settled then?" she asked softly, making sure not to wake the baby girl.

Tom nodded and smiled at her, "Rose will grow up the way we wanted her to."

She nodded and stood on her tippy toes to kiss him, "Thank you."


	3. The Beginning Part 2

**Story Title: The Greatest Act**

**Author: Slytherin Fixation**

**Chapter Title: The Beginning Part 2**

**Posted: 18th September 2011**

**Words: 4'053**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything other then the plot. All of the characters and such belong to J. K. Rowling and other respective copyright owners.**

**Summary: **_**Harriet Potter never really did exist; she was simply a girl with the unwanted power to destroy her father. DarkHarry; GirlHarry; UnspeakableHarry; SlytherinHarry (eventually); Weasley, Dumbledore and Gryffindor bashing; HP/DM (NON-SLASH); TMR/LE**_

* * *

**Legend:**

"English,"

"**Parselmouth,**"

"_**Italian**_,"

_"Spells,"/Letters/Writing/Dates_

* * *

_Thursday July 31__st__ 1986_

A recently turned six year old girl with light brown hair and red rimmed green eyes sat at one end of a rather long table. A boy two months her senior sat to the young girls left. He had platinum blond hair spiked up and bright, silver eyes. Draco Malfoy, for that was who the blond boy was, sat beside his elder cousin, a boy with black hair and blue eyes by the name of Regulus Lestrange. On the young girl's other side, Orion Black, a boy with a mischievous smile and an inherited love of pranks, sat beside his intelligent cousin, Cygnus Black, who was more a brother then anything else. Both boys had inherited the Black family's black hair and fathomless grey eyes.

Lord Voldemort's – or Tom Gaunt's depending on who you were – most loyal followers and closest friends occupied the rest of the table. Tom, himself, sat proudly at the other end of the table, opposite his only child, looking exactly like the respected leader he had become, with his wife Lily to his left. Lucius and his elegant wife, Narcissa, sat beside Lily, their hands entwined on the table top. Narcissa, more commonly known as Cissy amongst this gathering of close friends, was engrossed in a conversation with Severus who sat beside her. To Tom's right, Sirius sat with his wife, Lysandra, and sister in-law, Callidora, on either side of him. Together, this small group of people were known amongst themselves as the Dark Family.

For the four young boys seated at the table, Tom was simply 'Uncle Tom', a close friend of their parents who they were all distantly related to through marriage. To the adults in the room, he was their leader, their friend and their confident. The young girl who sat at the end of the table, unlike the other children, knew who he was and was proud to him her father. She had known her whole life that he was the Dark Lord Voldemort and that she was the next in line to be the Dark Lady. She had also known that at one point, she had been Harriet Potter, even if her friends did not.

Today, the small group was gathered to celebrate the young girl, Rose Gaunt's, sixth birthday. It was as they were seated eating lunch that a raven flew through the open dining room window. It dived towards her, its black wings curled against its body, before dropping an envelope in her lap. It was gone almost as quickly as it came.

Picking up the letter from her lap, Rose passed the envelope down the table towards her father.

"Miss. K. L. Gaunt, Private Dinning Hall, Slytherin Manor, Unknown Location," he read the address on the front of the envelope aloud.

"That sounds like a Hogwarts letter," Severus commented.

As the other adults nodded their agreement, Tom flipped the envelope over and examined the wax seal on the back. It was black in colour with a line of some kind of stone surrounding the inner edge of the crest. It was impossible to tell what stone it was from the single wax colour. The abbreviated letters of 'I.M.A.G' sat proudly in the centre of the crest; with a ring of what was obviously fire surrounding them. A sharp dagger sat on either side of the main crest, pointed down towards the banner across the bottom.

"Potenza, Lealta and Famigilia," Tom read the words off the banner, his pronunciation almost perfect.

"What does that mean?" Rose asked curiously.

"Power, loyalty and Family," Callidora, who spoke at least ten different languages, murmured from the other side of the table. "It's Italian."

Nodding his agreement, Tom broke the seal and opened the envelope, pulling out two pieces of parchment and reading the first one.

_The Italian Magical Academy for the Gifted_

_Headmistress: Valencia Ramirez_

_(Order of Merlin, Third Class, Second Class, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Veela Queen)_

_Miss K. L. Gaunt,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected to attend the Italian Magical Academy for the Gifted. Ten students, usually at age eight, are selected every year by an artefact left behind by the founders. However, this year the artefact chose you and seems to have accepted you early._

_One each is selected of a Chosen One, a Lieutenant, a Healer, a potions mage, a runes mage, a transfigurations mage, a scholar, a charms mage, an arithmetician and a protector. You have been selected for the position of Chosen One. This will be explained in more detail upon your arrival at the Academy._

_We expect your owl no later then August 14__th__. If you wish to accept, please place a single drop of your blood upon the letter to prove your identity. Your mentor will arrive on August 20__th__ to bring you to the Academy._

_Please find the list of equipment for your school year and purchase the items before your mentor arrives._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Aunghus Maddock_

_Deputy Headmaster_

"I've never even heard of this school before," Tom admitted after a moments pause.

"What is it called?" Sirius asked curiously.

"The Italian Magical Academy for the Gifted," Tom answered.

Severus' fork hit his plate with a loud clang, startling everyone.

"Uncle Sev?" Rose asked the godfather her mother had chosen shortly after she was born.

"Dumbledore mentioned that school to the Order once," he answered softly. "It was ages ago, back in the first war. He'd heard about them when he'd gone to an election for the next Head of the Confederation of Wizard and Witches. Apparently one of the women running for the position had been a student there and had briefly mentioned it. He'd heard they only invited ten students, with each of them having the most potential for certain positions and trained them from a very early age. Each student gets their own mentor for all ten years they attend and, apparently, no ones turned down an invitation to go there since it opened a century before Hogwarts.

"Dumbledore thought they'd be sympathetic to his cause and would help him win the war. They were the very opposite, though, refusing to choose a side until an important figure in the war emerged who had what they considered 'enough power' to actually win the war. They'd be an amazing ally to have and apparently a lot of them have creature blood and they all have friends in high places."

"That's not really a surprise," Tom said. "The Headmistress is Valencia Ramirez, the Veela Queen."

"I want to go," Rose spoke up suddenly, drawing everyone's attention.

"It does sound like a better education," Lily pointed out. "And she can always go to Hogwarts once she graduates."

Tom thought about it for a second, clearly considering it, before nodding, "I'll send a conformation tomorrow."

Rose smiled happily as they returned to the celebrations.

* * *

_Thursday 21__st__ August 1986_

_Dear Mother and Father,_

_I've only been here one day and already I love it. This place is amazing and I really wish you could either see or hear about more of it. Unfortunately, Professor Romano, the mentor who came to collect me, made it quite clear to me the second I walked in the door – all Academy secrets, stay secrets. _

_Since I got here, I've learnt quickly and I already know that things will be different here than if I'd gone to Hogwarts. We have classes for nine hours, six days a week and I'm only going to be home a total of three weeks every year._

_I'm also beginning to learn the school motto is very important here. The three most important things to everyone here seem to be power, loyalty and family. There's a reason why not a single student from the Academy has joined the war. They refuse to ever fight another Alumni. _

_It is a little strange for me, being two years younger than everyone else, but I am learning to adjust to the situation. The other students in my year do not seem to have a problem with my age and are proud to have the first person to ever be accepted into the Academy early in their year._

_Almost everyone here has creature blood, just like Uncle Sev said. I'm one of only two full-blooded humans here. The other one, Tonio Antinori, is an Italian pureblood in his eighth year. No one gets treated any differently because of blood here because there are no mud-bloods or anyone with _any_ Muggle parents._

_It's amazing how we all live together the way we do and I'm glad that we will fight for creature rights when you come back to power. I'll be right beside you the entire time, Father._

_Say 'hello' to the rest of the Dark family for me. I miss all of you and, though I love it here, I can't wait to see you all again when I come home at Christmas. Thank you for the beautiful eagle owl, I didn't get a chance to tell you before I left yesterday. I love him and have named him Thornis._

_Love,_

_Rose._

* * *

_Sunday 7__th__ September 1986_

_Dear Father,_

_I was speaking with three of the older students from my house during a free period today. We were discussing our separate family histories, particularly my unknown Father, when I found a strange occurrence. One of the boys, Kaage Lamontague, is a werewolf from a large pack in France. He was telling me about how his grandfather, the current Alpha of their pack, had a squib brother who he'd never met. He said that due to him being a squib, he was also human, as the werewolf blood seemed to have completely left his blood stream._

_The squib was born in about the 1920s and they'd left him at an orphanage in the Muggle world where they hoped he'd be happier with people more like himself. Apparently, he was adopted into a Muggle family only a few months after being left there at the age of ten months. The Muggle family who adopted him, and soon after moved to England, had the last name Riddle and his name was Thomas. Kaage is the eldest son of Thomas Riddle's older brother's eldest son._

_Do you think it's the same Thomas Riddle? Do you think maybe your father was a human squib? _

_Love,_

_Rose._

* * *

_Wednesday 17__th__ September 1986_

_Dear Father,_

_I'm so glad you've finally found our family. Kaage was surprised but also happy to hear that the two of us were related. I told him that I had done research on the Gaunt family and found a connection to Thomas Riddle who was thought to have fathered a son who could have possibly been my Father. He has begun to tell me all of our family history back several generations. Kaage has a little sister named Chantel, a little brother named Basile and he's the next in line for Alpha of his pack after his father. Through Kaage, I have also discovered that we are related to several other werewolf packs, many of which have children here at the Academy._

_The next in line for Alpha of the largest werewolf pack in Armenia, Vahan Jazmadarian, is two years above Kaage and is the eldest of my generation descended from Thomas' other elder brother, Basile. We are also related to the heir of Hungarian's largest pack, Szabo, and have family connections within may others. This, I am hoping, will be helpful for the war as we are almost guaranteed their allegiances. _

_All my love,_

_Rose._

* * *

_Monday 15__th__ December 1986_

_Dear Everyone,_

_I'll be home in five days for my Christmas Holidays. Unfortunately, I have to return on January 1__st__ for the start of the school term. Don't worry about how I'm getting home – the school has special means of transport. It's amazing how time flies here at the Academy with all the work we're doing but I don't regret coming here._

_In the four months since I arrived here, I've gotten to know my year mates extremely well. Since our first day here, we have been spending a lot of time learning about our positions. The Lieutenant is Gavriil Vladimir, heir to the vampire throne. The Healer is Anjali Ramirez, the Veela Queen's oldest daughter and heir to the Veela throne. The Potions Mage and Transfiguration Mage are a set of Bulgarian, Half-Veela twins named Cirilla and Costana Chervenkov._

_The Runes Mage is a Mexican werewolf by the name of Artem Martinez who is the eldest son of the leader of the pack. The Scholar is an Albanian royal elf by the name of Aulus Selmani and the Charms Mage an Italian, half-fairy named Simone Fasola. The Arithmetician is a werewolf from the same pack as Artem, but is otherwise unrelated, named Ekaterina Martinez. The Protector is a vampire from Sweden with a very powerful father among the Vampire Court named Aleksandr Olsson._

_We're a very tight knit group, even after only four months. It is the way things are at the Academy – your year group becomes your family and, later depending on what I choose to do when I leave school, possibly become my inner circle. If you're a Chosen One, you're pretty much the leader of the group followed by the lieutenant and the protector, who I have discovered is more my protector then anyone else's._

_I've met and become close friends with the other Chosen Ones too. We meet once every week for a session we call council meetings where we make decisions for the Academy and delve very deeply into International politics. Among the Council I've already made a bit of a name for myself with my cunning plans and ideas and the others have come to respect me as well._

_The ten of us learn things that the others won't and they are all more then willing to help me with anything I have trouble with. I, in turn, help my year mates with the work that I get through a lot quicker that they are still stuck on. They all seem very glad to have me as their leader as I do not abuse that power._

_Lastly, I have a few personal messages for all of you._

_Father, the current status of England was brought up during on of my Council meetings a few weeks ago. Apparently, Dumbledore has been trying to form alliances with several Magical races and other countries recently, as though he thinks the war may come back. I kept quiet about what I knew and am watching the situation and discussions between my schoolmates very closely. _

_Mother, I know you've been worried about me but I want to let you know that I'm fine. I also want to say thank you for the weekly care packages that always brighten my mornings._

_Draco, I got your letter early this morning. I'd love to come to the Quidditch game with the rest of you. Especially if it's between Italy and England; I've heard so much about the Italian team I can't wait to watch them play._

_Orion, I hope you're not driving everyone insane with all your pranks and jokes now that I am no longer around to stop them. I didn't really appreciate the 'gift' you sent me. Lucky for me, though, I wasn't the one who actually opened it. If I were you, I'd stay well away from the Vampire Kingdom for a few years considering Aleksandr didn't seem all that happy when it exploded in his face._

_Gus, Happy eighth birthday! I'm really sorry that I couldn't be there to celebrate it with you. However, you'll be pleased to hear that I still got you a present and it's the parcel attached to this letter. I saw it in the bookstore here and knew you'd been trying to annoy Aunt Dora into getting it for you._

_Reg, I made my house Quidditch team! The Academy's houses aren't like those at Hogwarts. They're simply for sporting events. I'm the only student to be selected for the house team during their first year in over three centuries._

_Uncle Sev, I hope you're not being too horrible to the 'insolent brats Hogwarts calls students'. It's a real shame that I'll have to wait until after I graduate from the Academy to sit on the Slytherin side of the room and laugh while you torment the Gryffindors. How's Slytherin going on the Quidditch and House Cups this year?_

_Uncle Siri, I want to thank you heaps for the present you sent over. I've never seen such a cute little puppy before. I've decided to name him Grim due to his resemblance to one. He and Crookshanks, Anjali's half-kneazle cat, get along extremely well._

_Uncle Luc, how is life at the Ministry? I read in the _Daily Prophet_ the other day that they've passed some new law to stop Werewolves from getting work. I really dislike the way they're treating Magical Creatures and I hope to change that one-day. Is Fudge still under your thumb or is he listening to Dumbledore again?_

_Aunt Dora, had any serious injures come through at St. Mungos yet? Gus told me you've moved to the permanent ward recently. I hope you can make a difference there and maybe help return people back to normal. Though, don't forget that the Longbottoms can't be healed even if it's possible. They know too much._

_Aunt Sandy, what's this I hear about a little baby girl on the way? Finally I'll have another girl around. I'm just incredibly sad to know that she probably won't get to know me very well until after I graduate from the Academy. Have you and Uncle Sirius thought of any names yet? Will you stick to the Black family tradition?_

_Aunt Cissy, are you still having the annual Malfoy Christmas Eve Ball this year? If you are I'd be happy to help with anything you need when I return home. I've always loved the whole process of preparing the Ball and then watching everyone's awed expressions. I'll need to get a new set of dress robes this year._

_Can't wait to see you all in five days time._

_Love,_

_Rose_

* * *

_Friday 12__th__ June 1987_

_Dear Father,_

_I will be arriving home the day before my birthday and returning to school on August 20__th__. This is going to be my usual summer break time and it will rarely change dates. Life here at the Academy is amazing and, according to my mentor, I've learnt more this year then I would have learnt in my first three years of Hogwarts._

_How is Aunt Dora after giving birth to Elladora? Is mother doing all right with me gone? I hope you're all well and, you especially, keeping your identities secret._

_Your Daughter,_

_Rose_

* * *

_Friday 11__th__ December 1987_

_Dear Everyone,_

_Another semester has flown by here at the Academy. I'm certain you'll all be shocked to see me on the 20__th__. I've grown quite a bit since we last saw each other. _

_I had my first practical exam yesterday and have spent the last few hours in the Infirmary. Nothing to worry about, of course, just a few broken bones and bruises. I've found that these exams really push you to your limits. I've already found that I love them after only one; they're a lot of fun even if they are challenging._

_Anyway, how are things at home?_

_Hope you're all well._

_Love,_

_Rose_

* * *

_Friday 8__th__ December 1989_

_Dear Mother,_

_I am sorry for worrying you. I just returned yesterday from a training camp my entire year went on where I was unable to contact anyone but them. It was mainly a team building exercise but was a lot of fun. I'm sorry this letter is so short but I have a debriefing of our training camp to attend. Once again, I'm terrible sorry for worrying you._

_Love,_

_Rose_

* * *

_Saturday 5__th__ May 1990_

_Dear Dray,_

_Happy 10__th__ Birthday! You've only got one more year to wait until you head off to Hogwarts. Time sure does fly by, doesn't it? I hope you like your present and wear it often. I wish I could be there to celebrate with you but we both know that it's impossible. _

_I'll be home again soon and I can't wait to see you again._

_Love,_

_Rose._

* * *

_Saturday 1__st__ September 1990_

_Dear Gus,_

_How was your first day at Durmstrang? I hope you're having a great time. I feel sorry for Draco and Orion now that the rest of us are off to school. They've only got another year left, though so it won't be too long a wait. I hear Uncle Lucius said he would introduce Draco to some of the other purebloods attending with him._

_One of the other two full-blooded humans here has an older brother at Durmstrang. His name is Andrei __Yordanyotov__ and he should be in your year. He will be a good ally to have considering his connection to the Academy. Write to me if you meet anyone else of importance._

_Hope you had a good first day,_

_Rose._

* * *

_Friday 16__th__ November 1990_

_Dear Reg,_

_The answer to your question is yes. I've known about Father and everyone else for as long as I can remember. I didn't tell you because it wasn't my place to say anything. It was up to Uncle Lucius and Aunt Cissy to decide when you were ready to know._

_Although I'm always willing to discuss it with you, you must realise that the others can't know. Gus will find out eventually, I'm sure, wether through books or through his Aunt Sandy. Orion will not find out until Uncle Sirius deems him ready, which will most likely be before he goes to school next year. Draco, on the other hand, already knows his parents were Death Eaters. Though, it will be a while before he knows about what really happened that Halloween night._

_That is the other thing I wanted to mention. You now know the truth about that Halloween night and you are one of the very few people who do. I hope you know that that event doesn't make me any different from the girl you know. I am still the same, even if I do have a lightening shaped scar on my forehead._

_Keep this knowledge to yourself,_

_Rose._

* * *

_Saturday 29__th__ June 1991_

_Dear Boys,_

_It was great to hear from you again and I miss you all too. _

_Gus, how was your first year? Did you and Andrei end up becoming friends?_

_Reg, how was your third year at Beauxbatons? How's Fleur? Father tells me that there is a possibility that you might be her mate. Did that get sorted out yet?_

_Ry, are you excited about your pending first year at Durmstrang?_

_Dray, I know you're unhappy about going to Hogwarts on your own but I have very recently found a way to join you by your fourth or fifth year. Shortly after that, when father regains power, Ry and Gus won't have to hide any more and can come to Hogwarts as well. Unfortunately, Reg probably will have graduated by then. Make us all proud in Slytherin and I shall join you in the house of my ancestors soon._

_Rose._

* * *

_Sunday 30__th__ June 1991_

_Dear Father,_

_I have some exciting news to share with you when I return home. I went with the other Chosen Ones to the Italian Ministry of Magic for a discussion with the Minister this morning. While I was there, I met the head of the Department of Mysteries as well. I'll tell you as much as I can when I get home._

_Love, Rose_

* * *

_A collection of letters written by Rose Gaunt to family and friends during her first five years at The Italian Magical Academy for the Gifted (1986 – 1991). Taken from _An Autobiography_ by Princess Rose Gaunt. _


	4. The Unspeakable Beginning

**Story Title: The Greatest Act**

**Author: Slytherin Fixation**

**Chapter Title: The Unspeakable Beginning**

**Posted: 15th July 2012**

**Words: 14'100**

**Summary:**_** Harriet Potter never really did exist, she was simply a girl with the unwanted power to destroy her father. DarkHarry; GirlHarry; UnspeakableHarry; SlytherinHarry (eventually); Weasley, Dumbledore and Gryffindor bashing; HP/DM (NON-SLASH); TMR/LE**_

**Author's Note: So, I know it has been forever but I now have a lot more of this written then what's posted so I'll slowly get through them. This chapter is super long, like longest I've ever posted :D**

**Also, this story will, without a doubt finish as HP/DM _but_ I have two ways of this story going in my mind. In one, Rose has a few other boyfriends before then and in one she doesn't. So, I'd like to know which you would prefer by saying in a review. Thank you :D**

**Legend:**

"English,"

"**Parselmouth,**"

"**_Italian_**,"

_"Spells,"/Letters/Writing/Dates_

"Russian"

"::Spanish::"

* * *

The Unspeakable Beginning

_Sunday 30__th__ June 1991_

I strolled through the shelves, slowly passing each letter of the alphabet, Adelgardo De Luca, the Head of the Department of Mysteries, walking beside me. He was a tall, imposing man with cropped brown hair and thick eyebrows. He had skin the colour of charcoal and I had known from the very first moment I'd seen him that he was a demon. The Hall of Prophecies, the room in which the two of us currently occupied, was one of the most fascinating rooms I'd ever seen.

We paused as we came across the letter 'P' and turned to stroll down that particular isle. De Luca came to a stop when we came across 'Potter' and I glanced around until I found 'Potter, Harriet' sitting on a shelf slightly to my left. Upon De Luca's encouragement, I reached out a perfectly manicured hand and picked up the glass ball that sat above the spidery writing of the Head of the Hall of Prophecies. It read:

_S.P.T to A.P.W.B.D_

'_The One' - 'Harriet Potter', 'The Dark Lord' – 'Lord Voldemort' and 'The Other' – (?)_

The instant I touched the small ball, words in a voice I had never heard rang out clearly through the hall.

"The One with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…born to she who has defied him twice, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark her as his equal…and One must kill the Other for neither can live while the Other survives…the One with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"

It was the prophecy that Uncle Sev had first heard spoken to Dumbledore a few months before I was born. It had taken a few days of Uncle Luc and Uncle Rod looking at it for them to both figure it out. When it said 'and one must…' there was an emphasis on 'One' meaning that it was to be me who killed the 'Other' and the 'Other' was a completely different person and not father. They were someone I'd have to kill before we could reach our goals. We still weren't positive who he or she was yet, but everyone had his or her suspicions.

Placing the small glass ball back on the shelf, I glanced sideways at De Luca.

"_**What is this about**_?" I questioned him. "_**Why have you brought me here**_?"

He looked down at me with unreadable eyes, "_**Because we need your help.**_"

I blinked in silent surprise. Why would the Unspeakables need my help? I voiced my question aloud.

He glanced at the orb of prophecy I'd recently touched, "_**Only those that are directly involved with a prophecy can touch it**_."

I stiffened, mentally berating my self for having so easily given myself away.

"_**We do not wish you any harm**_," De Luca reassured quickly. "_**Like I said, we need your help. I believe you are the only one strong enough to carry out a mission none of the Unspeakables are capable of**_."

I eyed him warily, "_**And what mission is that**_?"

"_**Follow me**_," he told me simply before turning on his heel and walking towards the exit. After a moment's hesitation, I followed him back the way we came, passed all the shelves and out through the door which closed softly behind me. Winding back through the Department of Mysteries, we didn't stop until we were in one of the closest doors to the entrance. De Luca kept quiet the entire walk and I instantly did the same, as it was obvious this was not a conversation to be overheard.

Finally arriving at what appeared to be his office, we took seats on either side of his desk and he pulled out a folder from his top draw.

"_**We need someone young who won't be suspicious or conspicuous for a Top Secret assignment**_," he began to explain.

"_**What exactly **_**is**_** the assignment**_?" I asked.

Opening the folder to the first page, he placed it down in front of me so that I could read the words written in large letters:

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

"_**Hogwarts**_?" I asked flatly.

He nodded, "_**We received word from the British Department of Mysteries that Dumbledore requested and was granted permission to keep the Mirror of Erised at Hogwarts by their government. As I am sure you know, the British Unspeakables don't work with their Ministry. Unlike us, they instead work for themselves and with the other Department of Mysteries around the world. They want someone in Hogwarts who can report what Dumbledore wants with the Mirror and whatever else suspicious is going on.**_

"_**You are the only option we have as it is impossible to send in a British Unspeakable as Dumbledore knows them all and we can't send in anyone because the only teaching position available is the Defence Against the Dark Arts post. I'm sure you've heard stories about the curse on the position. The possibility of it revealing our agent is too high to risk**_."

I smirked internally but outwardly I was expressionless, "_**What do you want me to do**_?"

"_**You're going to attend your first year at Hogwarts**_," he said. "_**And report everything out of the ordinary back to me**_."

"_**I can't do that**_," I said.

"_**If this is about your father-**_"

"_**What do you know about my father**_?" I demanded.

He looked at me down his long nose, "_**He's the Dark Lord Voldemort**_."

I blinked, "_**How…**_?"

He smiled slightly at me, "_**When someone is selected by the Magical Quill, the Academy turns to the Unspeakables to find out as much about the new student as possible. When you were selected, we immediately went to the English Unspeakables. We do the same for anyone coming from a different country as the only thing the Quill gives the Headmistress is your name, your gender, your date of birth and the country in which you live.**_

"_**We were rather surprised when the English Unspeakables told us that your file was in the top secret section. However, we were granted permission to view it when we told them why we wanted it. I must admit that what we found was rather a surprise to all of us.**_"

I closed my eyes briefly, "_**And how many people viewed that file**_?"

"_**Three**_," he answered, causing my eyes to snap open and stare at him. "_**Not including the English Unspeakables who I am sure have all read it**_."

I dismissed the last part as impossible to mend, "_**Who saw it**_?"

He eyed me for a long moment before he answered, "_**Your mentor, myself and the Unspeakable assigned your case**_."

I sat up sharply and my eyes widened, "_**Romano knows**_?"

De Luca nodded, "_**Yes. It's custom to tell the mentor everything we find about the student in case a problem relating to their past comes up**_."

I sighed, "_**That still doesn't solve the problem of 'I can't'**_."

"_**As I was going to say before you interrupted me**_," he gave me a stern look to which I raised an eyebrow, "_**If this is about your father, you needn't worry**_."

"_**Dumbledore will know we're related the second he hears my name**_," I told him. "_**The moment that happens I'll be in a great deal of danger**_."

"_**And **_**that**_** is why you're not going as yourself**_," he stated simply.

"_**Then whom will I be going as**_?" I asked after a short pause.

"_**I know that you're not going to like it**_," he told me. "_**But it will be easier to avoid suspicion if you go as someone well known who's been on the list for years; someone who you've already pretended to be**_."

"_**How do they know about that**_?" I demanded. "_**What else was in that file**__?"_

"_**Everything that the Unspeakables knew about**_," he stated simply. "_**And that includes everything that happened that Halloween night**_."

I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath as I felt my magic stir, "_**You want me to go as Harriet Potter, then**_?"

"_**Yes**_," he agreed.

"_**What about the scar**_?" I asked.

For a moment we just stared at each other before he spoke softly, "_**You and I both know that that scar is real, Miss Gaunt. I've been able to detect the glamour since the moment I saw you**_."

I deflated in my chair, sighing and chewing on my bottom lip as I thought, "_**Only for first year**_?"

"_**One year**_," he agreed.

"_**What about my schooling**_?" I asked.

"_**A time-turner**_," he stated simply. "_**Our Head of Time just developed a new time-turner that takes you back by month rather then by hour. You'll do this assignment, turn the time-turner twelve times and complete your year at the Academy. It will be as though you never missed a day to everyone else**_."

For a moment, there was silence.

Then, "_**I'll do it**_."

"_**Excellent**__,"_ De Luca sat back in his chair as he pushed the file towards me. "_**Welcome to the Unspeakables, Trainee Gaunt**_."

* * *

I came to a stop outside the staff room, waiting patiently for my mentor. The only other occupant of the corridor stood leaning against the wall opposite the door and he glanced up as I stood opposite him.

"_**Where have you been all morning, **_Roza?" Gavriil Vladimir asked with a slightly amused look dancing in his purple eyes, the use of the nickname he'd given me my first year a common occurrence. "_**You missed lunch**_."

I smiled at the boy I was closest to at the academy.

"_**I was at the ministry, Gabe**_," I told him honestly, using my own nickname for him.

"_**The rumours are true then**_," he guessed, his Russian accent only barely coming through as he spoke Italian. "_**The Unspeakables wanted to speak to you**_."

"_**They did**_," I agreed.

"_**And what did they want**_?" he asked curiously, one of his sharp eyeteeth catching the light as he spoke.

I grimaced but said, "_**I can't answer that. I'm under about a hundred different vows not to speak of it to anyone**_."

Gabe frowned, "_**Oh**_."

I nodded in agreement just as the door opened and two familiar figures exited the room we'd been standing outside of. Gabe shrugged off the wall as they appeared, his silver school robe falling easily around him as he moved towards our Defence Against the Light Arts teacher, Professor Koresses. I, however, moved towards Professor Romano. He taught both the Dark Arts and the History of the Dark Arts and was, therefore, the best mentor I could have hoped for.

"_**Miss Gaunt**_," he greeted me with a small, barely noticeable smile, one I was sure he reserved only for those students he was genuinely proud to have taught or mentored.

"_**Professor**_," I greeted in turn, bowing my head in respect to the man nineteen years my senior.

"_**Come with me**_," he stated simply as he turned to move down the corridor, me not far behind. "_**There are some things which we need to discuss**_."

We walked through the corridors silently, the few students whose path we crossed either smiled or greeted me before quickly moving out of the way of their rather intimidating teacher. As we reached the fourth floor, he opened his office door and held it open for me to enter before shutting it behind him. He moved towards the filing cabinet set to one side of the room as I took my usual seat on the white leather couch he kept in front of the wall length window. As he took a seat beside me, a single file in hand, I admired the view.

The Academy was situated on a relatively large island located in the middle of the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Italy. From the courtyard at the front of the Academy, all that could be seen was ocean blue water. From Romano's office the view was slightly varied. To the left, a flourishing green forest was clearly visible, expanding across one quarter of the island. To the right, the Quidditch pitch along with some of the outdoor training facilities could be seen, the second years currently being put through their paces.

"_**I wanted to talk to you**_," Romano said suddenly, pulling me away from the view I was admiring. "_**I wanted to know how you were doing with your exams and everything**_."

We spoke for a while about school and exams before it got closer to dinner and I got up to leave. As I had the door half open he spoke again.

"_**I just wanted to let you know that I never spoke of what I saw in your file to **_**anyone**," he told me softly. I left the room after a moment's pause where I didn't turn back to look at him. It would be months before either of us mentioned it again.

* * *

_Tuesday 2__nd__ July 1991_

Professor Decima Koresses, despite her soft features and small stature, was known for being a strict teacher who loved silence in her classrooms and was often found sitting quietly in a corner enjoying a good fantasy novel. Being a succubi, the second most beautiful race in existence, everyone knew that she had to have a mate but no one had ever seen him and she didn't appear to be suffering any negative effects from their separation.

As she was his mentor, Gabe was closer to her then any other student. People often speculated that he had met her mate and knew him well but even if it were true, he was extremely tight lipped about it. It was just the same in the way I was tight lipped when anyone asked me about the truth behind the rumours surrounding Romano. The bond between a student and mentor was valued only slightly below that of the ten classmates chosen to attend the academy at the same year.

As it was, no one ever thought to ask _me_ if any of the rumours surrounding Koresses were true, mainly because no one thought I would know the answer. A commonly known fact amongst Academy students was that Romano and Professor Koresses both graduated in 1979 as Chosen One and Lieutenant respectively. As such, Romano and Koresses shared a bond that few people ever experienced - that of a Chosen One and their second. Outside of those who experienced the bond for themselves, the number of people who understood the bond was even fewer. Some of the Academy's more intellectual alumni had spent decades studying the bond. It had been discovered long ago that those who hadn't experienced the bond themselves found it next to impossible to understand.

It was a bond established from the very first moment in which the two people came in contact with each other. I remember clearly the first time I saw Gabe. It was our first day at the Academy and I had been the last to arrive, as was tradition, with Romano at my side. I'd scanned the room I'd found myself in until my eyes had focused on an average sized eight-year old boy with dark hair standing beside a petite Professor Koresses.

We'd stared at each other for a long moment, confused about the sudden rush of feelings that flooded through us both. He'd later told me that he'd felt a need to protect and support me in everything I did but also make sure I never overexerted myself. I, on the other hand, felt an instant trust and willingness to listen to what he had to say that I'd never experienced before.

It had not been until just before dinner on our first day that Koresses and Romano had sat us down and explained to us what was going on. It was a bond we'd shared since the day we were born but had only been activated when we'd first met. They'd told us of their similar experience but of how they'd been much younger, having met before their time at the Academy. They had told us of their never wavering trust in each other and their strong reliance on one another. They told us of how it had been this bond that allowed Koresses to be separated from her mate for so long.

It had been this very bond that the Academy had been built upon.

"_**Miss Gaunt**_," Professor Koresses' voice interrupted my thoughts, pausing midway through her lecture on a certain Dark protection shield. "_**Would you like to give us a demonstration of the shield charm I have just been describing**_?"

It was clearly a rhetorical question.

She gave me a severe look, "_**I thought not. Pay attention in my class, Miss Gaunt, or I will find something more exciting for you to spend your time doing - cleaning the entirety of the second floor, for example**_."

I barely contained my grimace as she gave me one last serious look before continuing her lecture on the shield charm I'd missed her describing.

I glanced to my right out of the corner of my eye, my focus being drawn to Gabe's obvious attempt to catch my attention. He was frowning at me. When he caught my eye, he quickly glanced at Koresses before waving his wand, sending a note in my direction. I caught it easily and, making sure she wasn't looking, I opened it and read the two short sentences on it.

_**What's up? You're distracted.**_

I smiled slightly before scribbling a reply and, when Koresses wasn't looking, sending it back. He picked it up and read it before throwing me an amused but genuine smile.

_**I was thinking about our bond. I guess you just proved my point – you're always looking out for me.**_

* * *

_Friday 5__th__ July 1991_

I sat at one of the cubicles in the Department of Mysteries finishing off the final bits of paper work that the folder De Luca had handed me the week before contained. As I was only a 'Trainee', I had yet to gain my own office.

Glancing up at the clock, I noticed that the time read 7:45, meaning that I had to get back to the Academy for my first class of the day. Standing up and walking towards the fire, I picked up some floo powder and watched as the flames turned green. As I stepped into the flames, I called loudly and clearly, "Fifth Year Common Room, the Academy!"

Spinning, I watched absently as fireplace after fireplace flashed past my vision. When the familiar room came into view, I stepped gracefully through the heath.

"_**Rose**_," a voice exclaimed, causing me to spin around to my left rather sharply.

Through the doorway marked '_**SCHOLAR**_', a boy whom by all appearances could have past for fifteen or sixteen stood. The thirteen year old reached just over six-foot tall with pointed ears and silver, waist length hair that stood out brilliantly against his dark blue school robes. His eyes, a bright jade colour that sparkled in the light, glowed with knowledge and wisdom beyond his young years. The Royal elves were well known for passing their vast knowledge on to the younger generations at an early age.

"_**Aulus**_," I greeted with slight surprise. "_**What are you still doing here? I thought you'd be on your way to class by now**_."

He flashed me a small smile as he held up a book of which its title read _The Oppression of the Dark Arts_, "_**I forgot this and … well … I've got Romano first**_."

I smiled in amusement at the mention of my mentor, "_**Then I'd make sure to hurry if I were you**__."_

"_**Yeah**_," he agreed before grinning. "_**Though, if it was you he'd never even consider getting you into trouble.**_"

I rolled my eyes, "_**Get to class, Aulus**_."

He flashed me one last smile before disappearing out the only door in the common room without a number marked upon it. Hurriedly, I walked towards the door with '_**CHOSEN ONE**_' written across it and pushed it open. As soon as I did, a medium sized five-year-old black dog set upon me.

I laughed as I kissed him on the head, "Hey, Grim. Sorry boy, no time to play. I've got to get to class."

Not seeming at all bothered by what I'd said, the grim-like dog jumped up onto my green and black bed and curled up to go back to sleep. I quickly grabbed my books and hurried towards my first class.

* * *

_Saturday 6__th__ July 1991_

I woke up rather suddenly as Grim jumped up onto my bed, rolling around and deliberately waking me up as he did so. I groaned and rolled over attempting to get some more sleep before I had to get up. However, it appeared Grim was in the mood to play and refused to let me fall back to sleep.

I sighed and sat up with an annoyed look on my face as I stared down at him, "What has you so excited this morning?"

Grim barked loudly, probably waking up at least two of my classmates with more sensitive hearing.

"Grim," I warned and he sat down on the end of my bed, slightly more calm but with his tail still waging.

I sighed and threw my covers off, climbing out of bed and getting ready for the day. It was as I was clasping my golden cloak shut with Grim jumping excitedly around my feet that there was a knock on the door.

"_**Come in**_," I called, confused as to who would be knocking on my door at six in the morning. Moments later it opened and glanced in that direction through the mirror I was looking into. I smiled and spun around as I saw who entered.

"_**Kaage**_," I greeted with a smile.

Kaage Lamontague was a well-built sixteen-year-old. He was tall and muscular with brown hair covering not only the top of his head but also his jaw line forming a closely shaven beard. He had yellow eyes and he stood tall and proud, his position of heir obvious in the way he held himself. He was also my third cousin in that we shared a set of great-grandparents.

"_**Morning, Rose**_," he returned my smile. "_**Altair asked me to come and get you. We're having an impromptu training session before classes start**_."

I sighed, glancing down at Grim, "Sorry boy."

Grim seemed to deflate slightly, seeming to understand what I was saying before he walked out of my room in what appeared to be a huff.

Beside me Kaage laughed. I glanced at him before he explained, "_**Sometimes I swear that dog thinks it's a human**_."

I rolled my eyes and nodded my agreement before reaching into my cupboard and pulling out my house Quidditch robes.

"_**I'll wait for you in the common room**_," Kaage stated before leaving while I changed.

Ten minutes later, the two of us were heading towards the Quidditch pitch, brooms in hand and Mordred crests proudly displayed. We arrived in the Mordred changing rooms to find only two of our teammates present. One of them, a short boy in the same year as Kaage named Narek, was sitting on one of the benches, two beater's bats in hand as he polished them, and still looking half asleep at this early hour of the morning. He looked up as we entered before grinning lazily and throwing one of the bats to Kaage who easily caught it.

"_**Altair said he wanted them ready as if we were about to play a game**_," he told his fellow beater. "_**Any idea what's going on**_?"

Kaage shook his head, "_**No idea. He just told me to find Rose and meet him at the Quidditch pitch for training**_."

The only other team mate present spoke as he closed his locker, "_**Janic broke a rib during last night's practical. Lyra announced this morning that Nidia will replace him**_."

Narek glanced at Timo, our teammate who'd spoken, in disbelief, "_**We're having an impromptu training session just because of that**_?"

Timo looked at him in amusement, "_**You know as well as the rest of us how Altair gets. He wants to be sure we'll be ready for anything**_."

Narek groaned just as the changing room's door opened and another of our teammates appeared.

"_**Altair says to hurry up**_," he stated with a roll of his eyes as he stuck his head into the room.

Timo rolled his eyes, "_**We're coming, Falcon**_."

Falcon nodded, opening the door further to allow us all to file passed him out the door before closing it and catching up to us. As he appeared beside Timo, his whole body began to shrink and change until, rather suddenly, a large Peregrine flacon flew up and landed on Timo's shoulder. Beside me, Narek rolled his eyes and muttered something in his native tongue. It was common occurrence for Falcon to transform randomly into his Animagus form and we were all rather used to it by now.

"_**There you are**_," a slightly annoyed voice sounded as we entered the Quidditch pitch. "_**What took you so long**_?"

No one bothered to answer Altair, the Mordred Quidditch team's captain, and instead simply mounted our brooms to join him in the air. He, like Falcon and I, looked like he was born to be in the air. He had dark brown skin that gave the impression that he'd spent most of his life exposed to the sun with pure-black eyes and black hair that looked like dark red fire in the sunlight. He had been the reason I had known that De Luca was a demon the very second I'd seen him.

"_**Where's Alfhid**_?" Altair asked sounding exasperated at having to wait.

"_**Sorry**_," the voice of the only other female player on the team called as she appeared at the edge of the Quidditch pitch. I raised an eyebrow at her as I turned to look at her. Her usually immaculate long blonde hair was in complete disarray and the flush of her fair skin along with the look in her oddly coloured eyes showed that she was flustered over something.

"_**What on earth happened to you**_?" Falcon asked his year mate in surprise.

"_**Nothing**_," Alfhid stated, her hands combing through her hair in an attempt to tame it as she mounted her broom and flew up to be level with the rest of us. "_**I just didn't have enough time to get ready**_."

Altair rolled his eyes, "_**Whatever. Let's just get started**_."

As Altair began giving orders and the boys quickly moved to follow them, I glanced at Alfhid in amusement, a small smirk playing on my lips. She glanced in my direction and, seeing the way I was looking at her, raised an eyebrow as she continued to try to tame her hair.

"_**Not enough time to get ready, huh**_?" I questioned in amusement, moving forward to brush her hair aside, revealing a circular bruise on the right side of her neck.

The fourteen year old blushed a bright red and I laughed as I moved to follow the instructions Altair had just given me.

* * *

_Tuesday 9__th__ July 1991_

I watched silently as the six students and one teacher expanded their wings. The youngest of the students, a first year by the name of Midas, had been having trouble doing so the last time I'd watched this particular lesson. Now, however, he seemed to be having no problem at all. Narek, who was half-fairy and half-imp, was amongst them, smiling in amusement as Midas zoomed circles around him in the sky.

My eyes focused on one half-fairy in particular. Her wings, like those around her, were almost transparent against the light of the setting sun. She had long bronze hair that reached her knees and laughing chocolate coloured eyes. When we stood next to each other, the top of her head only just reached my hipbone.

The fairy teacher watched them carefully, making sure their flying styles were perfect and that none of them were in any pain from having not flown for a little less then a week. Full-blooded fairies, like Andoni, the boy the teacher was currently watching, usually found themselves feeling odd and often confined when they didn't fly at least once a day. However, most of the fairy students were often seen floating beside their classmates to and from class and rarely came across this problem.

"_**Hey Rose**_," the voice of the half-fairy I'd been focusing on earlier rang as she flew to my side. Her voice was a slightly higher pitch then a human's but not enough that it hurt your ears or annoyed you.

"_**Simone**_," I greeted the charms mage of my year as she rolled over so that she was floating upside down in front of me.

"_**What are you doing out here**_?" she asked curiously.

"_**I'm human, remember**_?" I reminded her in amusement. "_**I don't have a lesson during creature hour**_."

Simone nodded her head as she flipped back over so that she was floating the right way up, "_**I know that. I've seen you walking around the grounds when we flew past a few times. I was just curious as to why you were over here watching us fairies**_."

I shrugged, "_**I don't really know myself, actually. I'm supposed to be going into the Ministry in half an hour but I've got nothing to do until then. I just thought I'd come by and watch you fly, I guess. It's been a while since I did so**_."

She grinned at me but didn't get a chance to reply as Karola, currently the oldest Chosen One at the Academy, appeared beside her.

"_**Hey, Rose**_," she greeted.

I smiled in return and greeting just as the teacher called out to them.

"_**Got to go**_," Simone smiled down at me from her position just above my head. "_**I guess I'll see you at dinner**_."

I nodded as I watched all seven fairies fly off before heading back into the Academy's main building.

* * *

_Wednesday 10__th__ July 1991_

"_**Rose**_," two voices called down the hallway and I turned to face the identical twins.

"_**Cirilla, Ana**_," I greeted them.

Cirilla, her long honey blonde hair in a French braid while her sister's hung loosely on her shoulders, smiled at me, "_**Queen Valencia wishes to speak with you**_."

"_**What about**_?" I asked curiously as I continued to flick through the rolls of parchment covered in runes that I was carrying.

It was Ana who answered, her hazel eyes smiling, "_**She didn't tell us exactly. All she said was something about a rather official looking letter from another school**_."

I frowned in confusion for a brief second before I realised what it more then likely was and smiled at the identical twins as I departed, "_**Thanks. I'll see both of you at lunch**_."

"_**No problem**_," I could hear them call down the hallway in unison as I disappeared around the corner.

It was a short distance to the Headmistress office and I instantly stated the password that I was always kept updated upon. I walked through the short entrance hall before knocking confidently on the gold plated door.

"_**Come in**_," came the quick reply and I opened the door to step quietly through.

"_**The Chervenkov twins told me you wanted to see me**_," I spoke as soon as I had closed the door behind me and watched as our Headmistress looked away from the shelf of books she was browsing through. It was obvious, just from looking at her, that this was the Queen of the Veela. She had the long blonde hair, a rich golden compared to the honey colour that was common among half-Veela. Her eyes, similar to her eldest daughter's, were a deep ice blue and the way she moved and held her self spoke of beauty and grace that no one else could ever dream of matching.

"_**Yes**_," she smiled softly at me as she moved towards her desk. The only object that occupied her desk was a parchment envelope, the green letters on the front clearly visible. "_**This letter was intercepted by the school wards. Usually, I would just pass it on but I wish to know if you intend to accept the offer**_."

A hand of delicate fingers held the letter towards me and I quickly accepted it and read the words across the front in green lettering.

_Rosemarie Lillian Gaunt_

_Unknown Room_

_Unknown Building_

_Unknown Location_

I smirked slightly as I glanced up to see the amused face of my headmistress, "_**They still have no idea how to locate the school then**_?"

Her laughter was like bells, "_**Apparently not**_."

I smiled and glanced back down at the letter as I broke the seal and pulled out the two sheets of parchment inside. My eyes ran over the page quickly as I read.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Miss Gaunt,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find the enclosed list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31__st__ July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

I glanced up at my headmistress and, upon seeing her questioning glance, grinned cheekily at her, "_**Well Dumbledore doesn't have nearly as many qualifications to put on the letter as you do**_."

The Veela Queen laughed once again, "_**You flatter me, Miss Gaunt**_."

I shrugged unrepentantly.

"_**Do you plan to accept the invitation**_?" Headmistress Ramirez questioned.

I shook my head, "_**No. I won't be attending Hogwarts until after I've graduated from the**** Academy**_."

"_**Alright**_," she nodded. "_**In that case, you may head off to your next class**_."

"_**Thank you, Headmistress**_," I spoke my parting words just before I closed the door to her office.

* * *

_Thursday 11__th__ July 1991_

There was a sudden rush of air as the blade tore through it before a dull 'thunk' sounded as said dagger hit the dummy in the arm.

"_**Your aim is still off**_," the weapons instructor, who insisted we call him Mentore, sighed as he studied the dummy the dagger had hit with a critical eye. "_**You still need to work on speed, too. You concentrate too much on your precision and it takes too long for you to throw it. Remember your first lesson, Miss Gaunt: there is no point in learning how to use a weapon if you will be dead before you can**_."

I nodded, retrieving the dagger silently.

"_**Need some help, **_Roza?" a voice asked behind me, using the nickname Gabe had given me in the vampire native tongue of Russian.

"_**Thanks, Alex**_," I smiled as I turned to face the almost black haired boy. "_**I would really appreciate it**_."

He flashed me a grin that revealed his fangs as he moved his red robe slightly in order to retrieve one of the many daggers that sat in the weapons belt that his, and every other Protector's, robe was fitted with. He flipped the dagger easily between his fingers, something that I knew if I attempted I'd end up nicking my hands several times.

"_**Show off**_," I muttered good-naturedly with a grin.

Alex laughed even as he continued the movement, "_**Once you can actually learn to throw a dagger, you can then learn tricks too**_."

I rolled my eyes, "_**That's **_**if**_** I ever manage to throw the dagger properly. It's clear to me that I just simply don't have the aim or skill needed to do so**_."

His dagger spinning stopped and he frowned at me, "_**And yet you can hit a target moving at 100 miles per hour without any difficultly when using a wand**_."

I shrugged, "_**Clearly a wand is my weapon of choice**_."

He nodded his agreement, "_**Although, you aren't**_** too**_** bad with the dagger**_."

I smiled slightly at him, "_**You're just trying to make me feel better**_."

He grinned again, "_**It's my job to protect you - if that means protecting your feelings as well, then so be it**_."

I snorted, "_**There's a difference between protecting my feelings and outright lying to me, Alex**_."

He laughed for a moment before shrugging, "_**Don't worry so much about it. My schedule is a lot more concentrated on this sort of stuff then yours is. Whilst you're learning how to lead an army, I'm preparing to**_** be**_** that army**_."

I frowned slightly at him, "_**Not that I don't appreciate it or anything, but why? Don't you want to have the same chances as me to one day lead an army and be as powerful as you can be**_?"

He smiled at me as he began to spin his dagger again, "_**I don't have the brain to be a leader and I know that there are at least nine people out there whom I would be happy to work under. Plus, I love learning weaponry and the like**_."

I examined him for a moment, "_**It's kind of odd that people with the same interests and specialties are always chosen, don't you think**_?"

He nodded his thoughtful agreement, "_**It is, I guess. But it is that oddity that makes the Academy so perfect. It was built so that all of the specialties could be explored and built towards a common goal**_."

I eyed him for a moment.

"_**You believe the theories then**_?"

Alex nodded, "_**I think they're on the right track at least. I think every year Magic finds ten magical babies that would work well together and that will have the interests and specialties needed and boosts their power**_."

I frowned, "_**How do you explain me, then**_?"

He blinked and frowned in confusion, "_**What do you mean**_?"

"_**Well, if your theory is correct then why did Magic choose me to be your Chosen One when I wasn't even born yet? Why didn't it choose someone from your own age group? Why didn't it choose Gabe**_?"

"_**I don't think Gabe would have been Chosen either way**_," he told me. "_**I think he was always meant to be a Lieutenant for that's where his specialties and interests lie. As for why they didn't choose someone our age, maybe there wasn't any one who fit the criteria in our age group and it decided to wait until the next year**_."

"_**Then why not choose Evandrus**_?" I asked. "_**He was Chosen the next year so why not boost him up a year rather then me two**_?"

Alex stared down at me thoughtfully, "_**Maybe Magic didn't choose anyone because it was waiting for you to come along. Maybe Magic was waiting for you to be born. It had Chosen the nine people who would help you and they had all been born in the one-year. Then it just had to wait until you were born and could be Chosen to lead us**_."

I thought for a moment, staring almost blankly at the dagger in my hand before I turned and threw it at the dummy. For the first time ever, the throw was perfect, hitting the dummy exactly where the heart would be.

"_**Maybe**_," I agreed softly.

* * *

I threw my textbook across the room in an uncharacteristic bout of anger. It collided with the wall beside the door just as it opened.

"_**Bad timing**_?" a voice questioned just before a familiar head of dirty blond hair poked into my room.

I sighed, "_**Yeah, a little. Sorry, come in**_."

A boy with sparkling yellow eyes and a cheeky grin entered, "_**Nothing to worry about. You did miss, after all. What's got you down anyway**_?"

I grimaced, "_**Spanish**_."

He blinked at me, "_**Spanish**_?"

"_**Spanish**_."

His cheeky grin returned, "_**You're having problems with Spanish? But it's so **_**easy**."

I snorted, "_**Art, Spanish is your first language. Of course it's easy for you**_."

Artem Martinez smiled sheepishly, "_**Yeah, I suppose your right**_."

I groaned and rolled over on my bed so that I was lying on my back as I held a hand out towards the door, "_Accio textbook_."

The book flew up and, narrowly avoiding Art's head, landed easily in my hand.

"_**What did you want, Art**_?" I asked him just as he moved to lie down beside me, though he was on his stomach as he looked down at me.

He shrugged slightly, "_**Gabe is getting all twitchy again. That only ever happens when there's something wrong with you**_."

I closed my eyes and reached for the small tendril of feeling and consciousness in the very back of my mind. All I could feel was worry and stress.

"_**It must be odd**_," Art commented when I stayed that way for a while. "_**Being able to constantly feel someone else's presence like that**_."

I opened my eyes to stare at him for a long moment before shrugging, "_**You get used to it, I guess. Both of us are so use to it we only notice when certain emotions are too high**_."

"_**What a mood killer**_," he commented absently.

I hit him with my textbook causing him to yelp and stare at me in bewilderment, "_**I don't want to hear about your testosterone filled teenage thoughts**_!"

He smirked down at me but dropped it, "_**So, Spanish**_?"

I groaned and rolled back over to bury my head in the nearest pillow.

He laughed at me, "_**You've never had a problem with a language before. What's so hard about Spanish**_?"

"_**Verb forms**_," I responded instantly. "_**They're absolute death.**_"

His grin was amused, "_**Is that your subtle way of asking for my help**_?"

I shot him a look and his grin increased as he moved closer to look at the textbook over my shoulder, "_**Come on. Show me what you're stuck on. I'm here to serve you, after all**_."

I ignored his last comment and showed him what I didn't understand.

* * *

_Friday 12__th__ July 1991_

In the early 1500's, a man by the name of Joshua Kalper had been the headmaster of the Academy. There had been nothing overly special about him as a student. According to old Academy records, such as the accounts of council meetings hidden where no one could find them, he'd graduated in 1496 as the 'most powerful student to attend that year'. He'd had large amounts of power at his fingertips but had decided to become the Headmaster what is estimated to be nearly twenty years later.

When it came to his time as a headmaster, however, things started to get interesting. He'd spent long periods of time researching the bond he shared with his Lieutenant, using the bonds of the students to test and examine his theories. Unable to prove anything solid, he turned to something no one had even thought to research before. There had been mentions before, back in the earliest of the Academy's records as well as from students of the time, of a strange need to protect and serve the 'most powerful' student of their year. It was this that he chose to research.

What he found was said by the Council of his day to be revolutionary. Kalper had found, what he believed, to be the reason why the four founders chose to accept exactly ten students and why they chose the specific talents they did. He found a connection, slightly different to the one in which a Chosen One shared with their Lieutenant, throughout each of the other eight students that those listed by the Academy Quill to have the most potential in other areas did not share. These connections linked the student to their 'most powerful' and were of different strength and with different reasons depending on the talent possessed.

It was believed that the strength of the connection was ordered Healer, Potions Mage, Rune Mage, Transfiguration Mage, Scholar, Charms Mage, Arithmetician and then finally the Protector. It had been Kalper who first put names to these positions and who came up with the theory that these connections were there to ensure loyalty to the 'most powerful' above everything else. From here, he had concluded that Magic must have had a reason for wanting to ensure this loyalty.

It was at this point that the Academy records become rather vague. There was mention of a 'greater purpose', mention of a 'perfect support base' and even a brief mention of 'fate' and 'Magic's bidding'. However, none of the records really give much more information.

It is suspected by those few who have access to these records that somebody tried to destroy any solid evidence of this time period in the Academy's history. It was thought to be similar to the way the original Academy Scrolls, a list of documents written by Mordred himself, went mysteriously missing centuries before. Some suspect it to be hidden in the Headmistress' personal library, if such a thing even exists, while others believe it to have been destroyed in the Great Academy Fiendfyre of 1593 while others believe that the same Magical presence that controls the Quill hid them where no one could find them.

Whoever it was, wherever the records now are, the attempt wasn't completely successful. Today, remnants of the Academy's past can be seen in the students. The term 'Chosen One', along with all the other titles, came from this period as did the term 'bond mate' when used to refer to the student a Lieutenant or Chosen One shares a bond with. However, the strongest remnant I have found since the beginning of my time at the Academy is the connection itself.

Scholars from all over the world could spend millennia studying the connection to find the answer to this odd twist of magic. It didn't matter much to me either way. All I had to do was receive a smile or a small act of kindness from one of my year mates to know the answers didn't really matter. The connection was there, whether through some odd twist of magic or some other reason, and it made them the most loyal, trustworthy people I would ever have stand by my side.

It was a great shame, I mused, that the connection was something only shared between a Chosen One and one of the others. It would have made life a lot easier.

"_**Just because you're supposed to be more powerful then I am doesn't mean you have the right to lord it over me**_!"

"_**Don't I**_?"

"_**Argh, you're the most self-absorbed, egotistic, fat-faced jerk I've ever had the displeasure of meeting**_!"

Fat-faced? That was new.

"_**Like you're any better**_."

Beside me, Aulus sighed, dropping the book he was reading closed and massaging his temples, "_**Could you **_**please**_** put a stop to this? I can't concentrate**_."

I frowned at the two people who stood in the middle of the room as though preparing to duel. One of them, a girl with golden blond hair and ice blue eyes, stood with her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed in a glare – the perfect image of an angry teenage girl. The other, Gabe, stood casually opposite her, his arms crossed and his body relaxed as he stared down at her.

"_**You're so pig-headed I'd be surprised if you fit through the Great Hall doors, Fat head**_!"

On my other side, Alex groaned.

"_**Oh so now you've resulted to simple name calling**_?"

I stood before it could get any worse, "_**Alright you two. That's enough**_."

"_**It's not my fault he's such a jerk**_."

I opened my mouth –

"_**Can't you think of better insults besides calling me names**_?"

As the blonde's face began to turn red, I stepped between them.

"_**Gabe**_," I warned sharply. Seeing the look on my face, Gabe backed down. I turned to the girl only to see her smirking at him. "_**Aj**_!"

Anjali Ramirez, heir to the Veela throne, gave me a sheepish smile.

"_**Either take this somewhere else or leave each other the hell alone**_," I ordered them both.

Gabe sighed, "_**Sorry Rose. We'll stop**_."

He threw a sharp glare at Aj then, as though expecting her to disagree.

"_**Thanks**_," I sighed in relief as Gabe sat down with Alex, Aulus and I while Aj went to join the girls in Ana's room doing Merlin only knows what.

* * *

_Saturday 13__th__ July 1991_

"_**I thought I'd find the two of you here**_," an amused voice stated from slightly in front of me. I glanced up from the essay that I was part way through writing and looked into the pair of yellow eyes above me. The young werewolf had dirty blonde hair almost identical to Art and the features unique to the Martinez pack. Art glanced up moments later and grinned at his fellow pack mate.

"_**Where else would we be at a time like this**_?" he questioned her.

Kat sighed in mock exasperation and sat down across from us as she shook her head, "_**True**_."

"_**What's that**_?" I asked, spotting the large scroll held tightly in her hand.

She suddenly smiled smugly as she placed it on the table and began to unroll the parchment. I stared at the image before me in genuine awe. It was a painting of our common room, perfect down to every small detail. The books lining the shelves had small gold writing displaying each title, the pictures on the walls showed landscapes and people identical to the pictures themselves. The numbers upon each of the doors stood proudly for all to see and it was obvious that the painting had been done from the view of the ninth door, as it was not visible.

What stood out as the most amazing, though, were the people and animals lining the couches that filled the room. Grim, who lay curled up by the fire, was visible in perfect clarity the way most could only see in real life. Kat's own dog-like familiar, an almost completely white Crup with only a brown spot over each eye, and Art's Crup, Esteban, sat at the very front of the painting as though they had been curled up at the artist's feet.

The Chervenkov twins sat opposite each other on the floor on the left hand side of the painting, laughter in their eyes and smiles as they watched their small, highly affectionate Nifflers play on the floor. The Nifflers themselves, one brown and one white, were frozen in the process of chasing circles around each other. Aulus sat on a high backed chair near the shelves, a book with an Elvan title held in his hands. He appeared to be taking no notice of the strange animal that was a cross between a monkey and a frog hanging off the side of his chair.

Gabe and Alex sat opposite each other at the coffee table that sat in the middle of all the couches, a game of chess between them. Alex's hand was poised over a white knight, seemingly about to move the piece while Gabe stared on in concentration. Under the table, in a way in which neither boy could notice, a pair of Chimeras were having a silent staring contest. While the red one appeared to be entirely relaxed, the blue one had its upper lip pulled slightly back in a useless attempt to scare the other.

Although neither Aj nor Simone were any where to be seen, a small ginger cat sat beside Grim in front of the fire and the back of a large, chicken-like creature was just visible in the right hand corner of the picture.

"_**That's amazing**_," I told her truthfully.

"_**You really think so**_?" she asked, her smug grin only getting bigger. "_**It's my entry for the annual Academy art competition**_."

Beside me, Art rolled his eyes, "_**Don't you think it's about time you let someone else win**_?"

I laughed, "_**Why would you think that, Art? She's only won it every year for the past five years**_."

Kat pouted slightly at us but rolled up her parchment and tucked it away.

I stared at her thoughtfully, "_**Why don't you get it framed? We can hang it up in the common room**_."

She smiled at me and nodded, "_**That's a good idea, thanks**_."

I simply nodded as she stood to leave.

"_**Don't stay up too late**_," she told me sternly. "_**Remember the Quidditch final is tomorrow**_."

I nodded as she turned to walk away, "_**I don't think I could forget**_."

When she was gone, Art glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, "_**Think we're going to win tomorrow**_?"

I glanced at him in amusement, "_**Art, we haven't lost a game since 1985**_."

Art shrugged, "_**Never get too cocky**_."

I eyed him weirdly, "_**What's up with you**_?"

He glanced back down at the parchment we'd been working on before Kat interrupted us and sighed, "_**My father's coming to watch tomorrow**_."

"_**Ah**_," I said simply, knowing that that explained everything.

He nodded, still not looking at me, "_**He didn't even come to the Academy and he's decided to support Merlin anyway**_."

I stared at him silently.

He sighed again, "_**Not that it really matters. He'd support Merlin tomorrow even if he'd been in Mordred. Anything to show any kind of support against me, I guess**_."

I hesitated before reaching forward and placing a hand on his shoulder, knowing how much his father's disdain of everything he did affected him. It had been like this for as long as I'd known Art. He'd never told me what had caused it, only that his father had wanted his son to be a lot different than Art turned out to be. It was something that rarely occurred at the Academy, as family was part of our motto and, unlike Hogwarts, our motto meant a lot to us. However, Art's father had never attended the Academy.

"_**Don't worry about it so much**_," I told him. "_**No one's perfect, no matter how much he may wish you were**_."

Art glanced up at me for a moment before glancing away again as he spoke, "_**I don't know. You're pretty damn close**_."

I drew back as though I'd been slapped and he turned to look at me.

"_**Me**_?" I asked in disbelief. "_**You think I'm perfect**_?"

He shrugged, "_**You've got to be the most powerful person in existence**_."

"_**Power isn't everything**_," I told him.

He frowned at me, "_**But –**_"

I cut him off, "_**I know what our school motto says, Art, but there are more important things**_."

"_**Like what**_?" he questioned me, staring intently at me as though I was about to give him the reason we existed.

"_**It depends**_," I stated.

He stared at me, "_**On what exactly**_?"

"_**On you**_."

He frowned again, "_**What are you talking about**_?"

"_**It depends**_ _**on who you are**_," I told him. "_**To you, I'm sure, one of the most important things is to laugh and enjoy life**_."

He smiled slightly, "_**I guess**_."

I smiled too, "_**Don't worry about what your father thinks. He may never understand you but its better then moulding yourself into someone your not**_."

He nodded, smiling his usual crooked smile and turned back to the essays we'd been working on, "_**You're right**_."

Half an hour later as we packed up our things, our essays complete, he asked, "_**You never did tell me what was most important to you**_."

I smiled at him grimly, "_**And I don't think I'm ever going to**_."

* * *

_Sunday 14__th__ July 1991_

The Great Hall of the Academy was an extravagant room. It was longer then it was wide with eleven tables set out. One table sat on a raised platform at the front of the room, facing the double doors at the back of the hall. The other ten tables sat in a line, facing the teacher's table, with the first years at the front and the tenth years at the back. Currently as a fifth year, I sat in roughly the middle of the Hall with my classmates surrounding me.

"_**Aren't you going to eat anything**_?" Kat asked from across the table.

Art leaned forward, "_**She's right, Rose. You've got to eat something**_."

"_**I don't know what it is**_," I told them with a sigh as I poked the food in front of me. "_**I just feel like something's going to happen**_."

Alex glanced over at my words, "_**When you say feeling…**_?"

The question was left open.

I frowned but still answered his question, "_**I don't know, to be honest. I haven't had an actual vision. I just have a feeling rather than actually knowing for sure**_."

"_**Is it a bad feeling**_?" Gabe asked, our conversation having caught all nine of my year mates' attention.

I nodded, "_**It's bad and it's making me nervous**_."

My year mates looked worried as Altair appeared rather suddenly beside me. He flashed me a smile of pure-white teeth as he spoke, "_**We're heading out to the field**_."

I nodded and stood, pushing away my uneaten breakfast as I did so. We navigated the winding Academy hallways together before reaching the grounds. We arrived at the changing rooms to find that the rest of the team was already there. Timo, Falcon and Alfhid sat together by their lockers, brooms in hand and heads close together as they whispered furiously. Narek and Kaage sat on the other side of the room; quiet as a grave as they focused on the game they were about to play.

"_**Right, everyone**_," Altair spoke as we entered, catching everyone's' attention. "_**This is the final game of the year. We've worked hard and we've done well to get this far. Let's go out there and show the rest of this school why Mordred has been undefeated for seven years**_!"

We nodded silently to each other as we moved towards the doors that would open to allow us onto the pitch. Nobody spoke as we waited for the door to open, a Mordred tradition.

"_**And now, the reigning Quidditch cup holders, Mordred House**_," a voice called loudly before Altair swung on to his broom and flew out. The Chasers followed quickly after before the two beaters flew out on either side of me to loud applause. We flew one lap around the pitch before pulling to a stop in the middle of the field to face the Merlin team.

The referee and school-flying instructor, Madam Moretti, floated in the middle of the two, eyeing both teams warily. She was a pure blood witch with no creature blood. She had very dark skin and hair and, when she walked, you could see the limp she had received from a Quidditch accident during the height of her career that effectively ended it.

It was as we were sitting there, waiting for Madam Moretti to call the captains forward, that I got my first look at the stands. My eyes first landed on a tall man with short, dirty blond hair, before they moved slightly up and focused on a man a few rows behind him.

"_**Altair**_," I called before he could move forward to shake the hand of Luke Anderson, the Merlin captain.

He glanced at me as I came to a stop next to him, "_**Yeah**_?"

I leaned closer to him and whispered, "_**Mario Ricco is here**_."

He glanced at me in surprise before glancing at Ricco across the field for the briefest of moments before glancing back at me with a grin, "_**Thanks for the heads up**_."

I returned the grin before flying back to my position above the other players, facing the Merlin seeker. I knew Altair had the dream of playing for the Italian team as soon as he graduated and, if Ricco liked what he saw today, there was a chance he'd be able to live that dream.

"_**Captains, shake hands**_," Madam Moretti ordered strictly once I was back in place. Luke and Altair moved forward at the same time and did as they were told. Both of them were smirking as they shook hands. The boys were best friends and Luke was the healer of Altair's year. It was obvious that they'd made some kind of bet on the out come of this game.

Madam Moretti pulled out her wand and pointed it down towards the box of Quidditch balls on the ground below us. As the unlocking charm hit the box, the lid flew open and all four balls came shooting out. Six players shot forward towards the Quaffle ball as two others shot towards their home goal and four heavily built players shot after the two balls most likely to hit someone. I, on the other hand, stayed where I was and waited for a glimpse of the small golden snitch.

"_**Rose**__**Gaunt has caught the golden snitch! Mordred House wins the 1991 Quidditch House Cup**_," the voice of the commentator, Kaage's little brother Basile, echoed through out the stadium as he cheered loudly for the win of his house. The viewers in the stands followed shortly after as they erupted into noise, cheers from our house and groans of disappointment from the Merlin team.

"_**Amazing catch cousin**_," Kaage shouted over the cheers as he came to a stop next to me.

"_**Nice hit**_," I counted with a grin as we both landed next to the rest of our team. "_**That bludger you shot at Viv was enough to distract her long enough for me to catch it**_."

He shook his head in disagreement just as Altair stepped in front of me.

"_**We beat the record**_," Altair exclaimed happily. "_**We won eight years in a row**_!"

We all grinned at our ecstatic captain and watched in amusement as Madam Moretti presented him with the Quidditch House cup. Altair raised it above his head and Mordred House let out another deafening cheer.

Kat and Art were amongst the first to reach us and grinned at me as they neared.

"_**Brilliant game, Rose**_," Art commented as he finally reached me.

I smiled at him, "_**Thanks**_."

"_**How are you feeling**_?" Kat asked discreetly.

I shrugged, "_**The weird feelings gone. It must have just been the game**_."

Both of them nodded their agreement and as they did so, my eyes were drawn to a man standing roughly ten feet away from us. The reason that my eyes were drawn to him wasn't the large group of werewolves he had around him but rather the way his features reminded me largely of Art. He was the man I'd seen in the stands before I'd spotted Ricco. Both of them followed my eyes when they realised I was distracted.

"_**Oh**_," Art said, grimacing slightly when he saw who stood behind him. "_**That's my father**_."

"_**I had assumed as much**_," I told him just as said man looked up and caught Art's eye. He made a gesture for Art to join him. Art waved half-heartedly in farewell before cautiously moving towards his father.

"_**He scares me**_," Kat confided in me as I frowned at the stiff way in which father greeted son.

"_**That I can understand**_," I murmured in response before turning away from the sight. "_**I'll see you in the common room later, I need to get changed**_."

She nodded and silently watched me leave the pitch.

* * *

_Monday 15__th__ July 1991_

When we won the Quidditch game against Merlin, I should have realised my bad feeling from the day before hadn't been fulfilled. However, it wasn't until recess Monday that I remembered the horrible way my stomach had rolled at breakfast the morning before.

"_**Did you hear**_?" Cirilla demanded of me as I took a seat beside Gabe on the grassy hill. Apparently, my year mates had decided to spend the free period they enjoyed while I attended my Necromancy class out in the summer sun.

I raised an eyebrow at her, "_**Hear about what**_?"

"_**It's Antonin**_," Ana supplied, running a soothing hand over Cirilla's hair as she looked unable to speak further through her despair.

"_**What happened**_?" I asked cautiously, knowing that Cirilla had had a crush on the fifteen-year-old incubus since the day she first begun to notice boys.

"_**He's had to return home two weeks early. His parents were found murdered this morning**_," Gabe told me softly, his eyes focused out towards the open sea as though watching something none of us could see.

I stared silently at him.

"_**He's got a little brother**_," Aulus mentioned. "_**He's only six or seven, I think**_."

"_**Do they know who killed them yet**_?"

The others seemed to grimace simultaneously.

"_**What**_?" I asked.

"_**The French authorities arrested some English witch named Emmeline Vance about an hour ago**_," Alex said.

I frowned.

"_**Rose**_?"

I glanced back at Art questioningly.

"_**Do you… that is… have you ever met her**_?"

"_**I've heard of her**_," I said. "_**But I've never met her**_."

"_**Who is she**_?" Kat asked curiously.

"_**She's one of Dumbledore's flaming chickens**_," I answered. "_**She's also notorious for her hatred of magical creatures**_."

"_**She killed them because they were incubi**_?" Cirilla demanded in disbelief. "_**How could someone be so prejudice**_?"

I smiled sadly at her, "_**Most of England is like that, I'm afraid. They've all been brainwashed by Dumbledore or legitimately feel that magical creatures are below them**_."

"_**How did you turn out the way you did, then**_?" Simone wondered. "_**If most of them believe that, why are you different**_?"

"_**Because I grew up like a true pure-blood**_," I told them. "_**I grew up being taught about each creature and how they differ and are similar to me**_."

We lapsed into silence and I continued to stare blankly at the deep blue water that surrounded the island. I'd never felt so isolated then the day one of my school mates lost his parents and there was nothing I could do but wish, for once, that I'd paid better attention to my bad feeling the morning before.

* * *

_Tuesday 16__th__ July 1991_

"_**Who's up for a game of Exploding Snap**_?" Kat asked as she sat down on the couch in the middle of the common room. The room had been silent for a long time and I could tell by the way she moved that she was trying to cheer us up.

Art stood from the other side of the room and plopped down in the couch beside her, "_**Count me in**_."

"_**And me**_," Simone sat down a little more gracefully beside him. The twins moved to join him as well, followed shortly after by Aj.

"_**What about you, Rose**_?" Cirilla asked. I glanced up from the ancient text I'd been reading to look at them. It only took a moment before I agreed. If Cirilla was happy enough to play after what had happened, then I could be to. Alex stood as I did and moved with me to join the others.

"_**Aulus**_?" Aj called. "_**You playing**_?"

Aulus' eyes snapped open from where he'd been relaxing against one of the couches. I suspected that he'd been using his gift to monitor our emotions in order to insure no one got too upset. He hesitated only a moment before moving to the seat beside Simone.

"_**Where's Gabe**_?" Art asked, frowning slightly. I glanced around, surprised to find him not present. Reaching towards the back of my mind, I found Gabe's emotions to be completely relaxed and I smirked in amusement when I realised he was sleeping. I stood from my chair and moved towards his bedroom door. I opened it easily.

"_**Gabe**_," I called, startling him awake. "_**We're all playing Exploding Snap. Come join us**_."

He yawned just as I closed the door but I knew he'd be coming. Sure enough, just as I was settling back into my seat, his door opened and he moved to sit in the empty seat beside Alex.

As the self-shuffling cards finished shuffling and Kat began to deal out the cards, Cirilla leaned forward slightly to speak.

"_**Who won last time**_?" she asked curiously.

"_**I did**_," Simone declared, smiling slightly.

"_**In that case, prepare to loose, Fasola**_," Cirilla grinned challengingly, the first sign of happiness since we'd heard about Antonin.

Simone rolled her eyes but I could see her slight smile as she realised the same thing I did, "_**Dream on Chervenkov. If my memory serves me right, you haven't won a game since first year**_."

Cirilla pouted as the rest of us laughed. When we'd been in first year, Cirilla, Ana and Kat won nearly every game of exploding snap because they'd grown up with the game while the rest of us had been raised in an environment where learning to be a proper heir had been more important. Now, however, they were lucky if they ever won a single game.

Kat finished dealing and we picked up our cards to begin the game, the noise level picking up dramatically as it did. I looked around at my year mates and smiled. I hadn't done anything to stop what had happened but seeing the others happy again was contagious.

* * *

_Saturday 27__th__ July 1991_

"_**Mother has agreed to let everyone visit this summer**_," Aj announced with a grin as she sat down to my left at breakfast that morning.

I glanced at her in surprise, as did the rest of the table.

"_**She did**_?" Gabe questioned. "_**For how long**_?"

"_**A week**_," Aj answered. "_**I think she wants you all to meet my siblings. The triplets are starting here this year. It'll be a good start for them if they already know you all**_."

I nodded thoughtfully, "_**I'm just not quite sure if I will be able to come**_."

Aj frowned, "_**Why not**_?"

I sighed, "_**I want to spend as much time with my family as possible before Draco and Orion go off to school. That and you know I've got stuff to do with the Unspeakables**_."

Kat frowned, "_**The Unspeakables seem to take up most of your time lately**__._"

I nodded my agreement, "_**I guess they do but I am learning a lot.**_"

"_**Please Rose**__,_" Aj pleaded. "_**My brothers and father all really want to meet you after hearing so much about you.**_"

I sighed, "_**Alright. I'll come**__._"

The others grinned in triumph.

* * *

**Well, there you have it :D.**

** Don't forget to tell me what you want from the author's note above.**

**Slytherin Fixation**


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